Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah- Around two million pilgrims will stand today at the sacred plains of Mount Arafat to perform the Hajj rituals, while Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is expected to arrive today in the tent-city of Mina before the afternoon prayers to supervise the services provided to the pilgrims and follow up on the safety and comfort of guests.
In a dispatch sent to King Salman, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister as well as the Chairman of the Supreme Hajj Committee said he was pleased to inform the King about the completion of the entry of pilgrims to the holy sites in security and tranquility thanks to the ongoing attention and care being accorded by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
Prince bin Nayef said he was pleased to brief the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques that the number of pilgrims coming from abroad for this year’s Hajj season amounted to 1.3 pilgrims from 164 countries, 5 percent less than last year.
The Crown Prince had arrived in Mina on Saturday.
Prince bin Nayef said 1,246,883 pilgrims arrived to the Hajj by air, 65,766 pilgrims by land, and 12,723 pilgrims by sea.
The pilgrims have completed their arrival at the holy site of Mina on Saturday coming from Mecca’s Grand Mosque to spend the day of Altarwaiah, before moving to Mount Arafat to complete their hajj rituals in keeping with what the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is supposed to have done.
Huge processions of pilgrims arriving in Mina were accompanied by thousands of security men from various sectors.
Col. Sami Al-Shwairekh, chief of media and information at the Hajj Security Forces said that several camera drones will be accompanying the Hajj movements in the Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah sacred places, in addition to the Two Holy Mosques.
The General Authority for Statistics said Saturday that the number of pilgrims exceeded 1,800,000 until 5p.m. of Altarwaiah Day.
The Hajj is an annual pilgrimage that re-enacts the actions of the Prophet Muhammad from more than 1,400 years ago.