The Muslim pilgrims prayed at the top of Mount Arafat in Thorsday Duning the culminating point of Hajj’s annual pilgrimage, since the Saudi officials asked the participants to refrain from being out of the duration of the most popular hours of the day.
Thousands of pilgrims began to meet before dawn around the hill and the surrounding plain, where it is believed that the prophet Muhammad gave him his last sermon.
While some arrived early to take advantage of the relatively cool morning, many pilgrims will remain for hours of prayers and recitals of the Qur’an until the night in the most arduous part of the Hajj.
After sunset, they will go to Muzdalifah, halfway between Arafat and the extensive city of the mine tent, where they will collect pebbles so that they can perform the symbolic “Stoning of the Devil”.
“This is something I used every year in the duration of the Hajj TV screen and I always thought:” I wish I could be here, “said Ali, 33, from Pakistan, one of the 1.5 pilgrims of the 1.5 factories they had.
“I am trying to get here … during the last 3 years,” he added while looking at the mountain. “I feel very blessed.”
Hundreds of pilgrims dressed in white splashed the mount itself, with many more on their foot praying or taking photos.
Earlier this week, the Saudi authorities asked the pilgrims to stay inside their stores between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm on Thursday, when the desert sun is harder.
The temperatures of this year Alrealy exceeded 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) as one of the world’s largest annual religious meetings, which brings together devotees around the world, began earlier this week
The authorities have reinforced heat mitigation efforts with the aim of avoiding repetition or Hajj last year, which saw 1,301 pilgrims that are the temperatures reached 51.8 ° C.
“I came here early to (avoid) the sun and then pray inside my store,” said Adel Ismail, 54, from Syria.
In order for this year’s pilgrimage to be safer, the authorities have expanded the infrastructure, deployed thousands or additional personnel and disturbances in an arsenal of high -tech tools to help better the crowds.
The authorities have mobilized more than 40 government agencies and 250,000 officials, doubling their efforts against heat -related diseases after the lethal heat wave of 2024.
The shaded areas have expanded in 50,000 square meters (12 acres), thousands of drugs will be waiting and more than 400 cooling units will be defined, said Hajj minister to the AFP.
The authorities said that most of the deaths in 2024 were among the unregistered pilgrims that lacked access to services such as tents and buses with air conditioning.
This year, they have also taken energetic measures against unregistered pilgrims seeking to sneak into Mecca, trusting frequent raids, drone surveillance and a text alert bomb.
Hajj permits are assigned to the country in a basic share and are distributed to individuals by a lottery.
But even for those who can obtain them, steep costs make many attempt Hajj without permission, only although they run the risk of judging and deportation if Caht.
Large crowds in the Hajj have proven lethal in the past, especially in 2015, when a stamped duration, the “devil” ritual in Mina killed up to 2,300 people in the most deadly Hajj disaster.
Saudi Arabia earns billions of dollars a year of Hajj, and the minor pilgrimage known as Umrah, made at other times of the year.
