12/28/2006

Hajj Begins in Saudi Arabia

One Year After Tragedy, Muslims Make Way to Mecca

This week more than 2 million Muslims will begin the hajj -- the holy pilgrimage to Mecca that is considered one of the most important rituals for the faithful. Saudi Arabian officials hope to avoid a repeat of last year's deadly masses.

Muslims this week start their trek to Saudi Arabia, where the season for the 5-day hajj holy pilgrimage begins in Mecca, the birthplace of Islam. Saudi Arabian officials have dispatched 35,000 security and rescue staff to the city, where more than two million Muslim pilgrims are expected to come to pray.

Last year, Mecca was the site of a mass tragedy when 362 pilgrims were crushed to death after stampeding the Jamarat Bridge, in Mina near Mecca. Just before, a hotel in Mecca collapsed, killing another 76.

The Saudi government has spent $1.1 billion over the last 12 months to renovate the bridge, adding new entrances and exits to make crowd control easier, in order to prevent a repeat of last year's disaster. Improvements already implemented will allow for up to 250,000 pilgrims to move across the bridge each hour. Officials are also broadcasting messages in around Mecca's Grand Mosque urging pilgrims to proceed slowly and calmly.

"We hope that this year's hajj will not witness any incidents," Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef told reporters, according to Reuters.

dsl/reuters

Article...

For reasons of data protection and privacy, your IP address will only be stored if you are a registered user of Facebook and you are currently logged in to the service. For more detailed information, please click on the "i" symbol.

Post to other social networks: