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MAKKAH – As 1.6 million pilgrims from abroad start returning home Sunday after completing their Haj rituals, authorities said transport routes for pilgrims to King Abdul Aziz International Airport (KAAIA) in Jeddah and the seaport Haj terminals were clear following Wednesday’s heavy downpour in Jeddah.

Pilgrims from abroad begin taking buses to Jeddah, the main gateway to Makkah, on Sunday afternoon and will continue catching flights, ferries and long-haul buses home over the next week. Another 700,000 local pilgrims are expected to take roads back to their home towns. Local pilgrims were 200,000 less than expected. Officials blamed the lower number on worries about swine flu and tighter budgets due to the economic downturn.

Some major roads and bridges in parts of Jeddah were swept away by flash floods Wednesday which claimed 106 lives, according to the latest figures. There were no pilgrim deaths, according to authorities. Over two million pilgrims Saturday launched into the final rituals of the Haj ahead of their massive exodus from Makkah after their once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Tens of thousands of the faithful continued the three-stage ritual of stoning the devil at the Jamarat pillars in Mina by casting pebbles against the three Jamarat pillars over two or three days.