RIYADH, JEDDAH: Saudi transport chiefs ordered an urgent investigation on Thursday into chaotic scenes over the Eid holiday at the showpiece King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. Passengers complained of flight delays, lost baggage, and overcrowded terminal facilities unable to cope with the sheer number of people. The worst scenes took place on Tuesday. “I have no words for the absolute chaos,” one passenger wrote on social media. “Delayed flights, missed connections, people locked outside in 40-degree heat, people fainting from heat strokes, no updates, never ending queues and people fighting and shouting.” Passenger Abu Ammar Alhasan said: “I arrived earlier than scheduled at 1 p.m. The entrance gates were closed. We stood in the sun for about an hour without water or toilets available. When we entered, crowds were everywhere, people were lying on the floor and my flight was three hours late.” Another passenger said he was delayed for four hours because the baggage belts were not working. Some passengers speculated that departing Umrah pilgrims had arrived at the airport well before their flight time, and chose to rest on floors in the lounges and in outside parking areas. Meanwhile, some scheduled flights were delayed, and the combination of their passengers and the pilgrims led to overcrowding. Saudi Minister Saleh Al-Jasser on Thursday set up an urgent investigation committee led by the head of the General Authority of Civil Aviation to establish what went wrong, make recommendations to avoid a repeat, and report within a week. The new $9.6 billion airport opened in 2019. It aims to accommodate 30 million passengers a year at peak times, and 80 million when the final phase is complete in 2035.