Over 2 million Muslim pilgrims started moving at sunrise yesterday toward Mount Arafat to perform the central rite of hajj, the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca.
In the aftermath of the death of 76 people on Thursday in the collapse of an aging hostel in the heart of Mecca, a senior Saudi official said the kingdom has prepared itself to deal with major potential emergencies during the hajj including fires, stampedes, torrential rain, food poisoning, terror acts and even chemical attacks.
Although some pilgrims, especially Egyptians, had arrived in Arafat the day before, the great majority flocked from the valley of Mina, to the north, where they had spent the night huddled under tents or camped out on the streets with their mats and blankets.
PHOTO: AP
Tracing a journey made by the Prophet Mohammed more than 1,400 years ago, pilgrims were to gather yesterday for an emotional assembly in Arafat, a small plain about 250m above sea level surrounded by mountains on all sides.
They will pray for mercy and forgiveness at the scene of the prophet's last sermon and in a place where some believe Adam and Eve reunited after they were banished by God from paradise, according to the Bible.
The rite of wukuf, or standing, before sunset on Arafat is the high point of the hajj and without which it would be considered incomplete.
More than 1.55 million foreign pilgrims of 177 nationalities are taking part, up 1.2 percent from the previous pilgrimage, Deputy Interior Minister Prince Mohammad bin Nayef Bin Abdel Aziz said.
"This does not include Saudis, foreigners living in Saudi and pilgrims coming on their own outside the tours," Interior Ministry Spokesman Major General Mansur al-Turki said, suggesting an estimate of 2.5 million may be close.
He said the exact number would only be known today when pilgrims begin flocking back to Mina to perform the hajj's most dangerous ritual involving the stoning of three pillars symbolizing Satan's powers.
"This year we drafted a special plan to channel pilgrims to jamarat," said Turki using the the Arabic term for the pillars.
He said pedestrian traffic would move on three main roads while two new tunnels were added to transport pilgrims in buses to the area, which has been the scene of several tragedies, such as a stampede in 2004 that killed 251 and another in 1990 that killed 1,426.
Almost 60,000 security, health, emergency and other personnel are involved in organizing the hajj this year, trying to ensure none of the deadly incidents that have marred it in recent years are repeated.
Also, 14 hospitals and dozens of clinics and field facilities are ready to deal with any contingency.
also see story:
`Hajj' good for the carpet business
DOUBLE-MURDER CASE: The officer told the dispatcher he would check the locations of the callers, but instead headed to a pizzeria, remaining there for about an hour A New Jersey officer has been charged with misconduct after prosecutors said he did not quickly respond to and properly investigate reports of a shooting that turned out to be a double murder, instead allegedly stopping at an ATM and pizzeria. Franklin Township Police Sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the on-duty officer on the evening of Aug. 1, when police received 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, about 96km from Manhattan in central New Jersey, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson’s office said. However, rather than responding immediately, prosecutors said GPS data and surveillance video showed Bollaro drove about 3km
Tens of thousands of people on Saturday took to the streets of Spain’s eastern city of Valencia to mark the first anniversary of floods that killed 229 people and to denounce the handling of the disaster. Demonstrators, many carrying photos of the victims, called on regional government head Carlos Mazon to resign over what they said was the slow response to one of Europe’s deadliest natural disasters in decades. “People are still really angry,” said Rosa Cerros, a 42-year-old government worker who took part with her husband and two young daughters. “Why weren’t people evacuated? Its incomprehensible,” she said. Mazon’s
‘MOTHER’ OF THAILAND: In her glamorous heyday in the 1960s, former Thai queen Sirikit mingled with US presidents and superstars such as Elvis Presley The year-long funeral ceremony of former Thai queen Sirikit started yesterday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her body to lie in state at Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Members of the royal family are venerated in Thailand, treated by many as semi-divine figures, and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide. Sirikit, the mother of Thai King Vajiralongkorn and widow of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, died late on Friday at the age of 93. Black-and-white tributes to the royal matriarch are being beamed onto towering digital advertizing billboards, on
POWER ABUSE WORRY: Some people warned that the broad language of the treaty could lead to overreach by authorities and enable the repression of government critics Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi yesterday, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance. The new global legal framework aims to bolster international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from child pornography to transnational cyberscams and money laundering. More than 60 countries signed the declaration, which means it would go into force once ratified by those states. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the signing as an “important milestone,” and that it was “only the beginning.” “Every day, sophisticated scams destroy families, steal migrants and drain billions of dollars from our economy...
RSS