As many as 240, 259 pilgrims left Madinah up to Tuesday (Feb. 8, 2005). Director General of the Branch of the Hajj Ministry in Madinah region Hassan Al-Bakri said 79,149 pilgrims left by air to their homelands, while 146, 249 pilgrims left for Jeddah to return to their homelands via King Abdulaziz International Airport of Jeddah and Jeddah Islamic Port. The number of pilgrims who left by land amounted to 14, 861. Al-Bakri noted that the number of pilgrims who left Makkah for Madinah after the Hajj season amounted to 523,658.