Srinagar, May 5 -- The first batch of 178 Hajj pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir left for Saudi Arabia on Sunday, said officials.

The pilgrims, accompanied by their relatives, assembled at Hajj House in Bemina, Srinagar, early in the morning and were taken to the Srinagar international airport in State Road Transport Corporation buses.

J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha and chief minister Omar Abdullah flagged off pilgrims from the airport. With moist eyes, the pilgrims said goodbyes to their kith and kin.

"We pray for peace in Kashmir. The Pahalgam incident was heartbreaking... we felt devastated," says Nisar Ahmad, a pilgrim from Srinagar.

LG Sinha extended greetings and felicitations to the pilgrims. "The divine pilgrimage is a call...