On Friday afternoon, residents of Bani village in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district held an emergency meeting to discuss how to bring home 22 pilgrims stranded in Saudi Arabia following flight disruptions caused by attacks on airport infrastructure.

The group, which includes three elderly couples, was due to return from Mecca and Medina on October 22. With no certainty over when they can fly home, some families have begun sending money to cover the cost of their relatives’ accommodation and meals, while others worry about elderly parents who need regular medical care.

Moharram Ali, 45, a farmer, said, “My father, Sohrab Ali, 70, and mother, Badrun Nisha, 65, call us regularly, asking when they’ll be able to return. We have no answers, so we keep reassuring them that flights will resume soon.…