Hajj pilgrims will climb Mount Arafat on Friday. This year, around a million worshippers are performing their Hajj pilgrimage in an atmosphere enhanced by health and security services offered by the Saudi government under the directives of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, governor of the Makkah Region and president of the Central Hajj Committee, and Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, Saudi interior minister and chairman of the Supreme Hajj Committee, have each inspected and monitored plans and operations for pilgrims moving from Mina to Mount Arafat.
In their directives, the officials affirmed that authorities are spending maximum efforts to ensure that worshippers get to perform rituals easily and safely.
For his part, Prince Khalid said that there were no cases of accidents or coronavirus recorded during the day of Al-Tarwiyah (Day of perfusion).
Prince Khalid extended his thanks and gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown for the material and human capabilities that were provided to serve pilgrims in performing their rituals with ease and tranquility.
Prince Khalid said that the Kingdom did not pause Hajj over the past two years despite the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, restrictions were put in place to ensure that a limited number of pilgrims can perform Hajj under safe preventive measures.
This year, according to Prince Khalid, the Kingdom raised the number of verified pilgrims to a million.
In a press conference from Mina, Prince Khalid affirmed that over 150,000 security, health and hospitality workers are serving pilgrims during Hajj this year.
He added that 19 individuals responsible for violating Hajj restrictions by transporting unauthorized people were arrested, as were 76 individuals behind fake campaigns. He hailed new projects that launched this Hajj, including 18 hospitals in Makkah and the holy sites with a combined capacity of more than 3,700 beds.
Prince Khalid said that 111,000 violators and 68,000 unauthorized vehicles were prevented from entering Makkah.
The governor said that 2,500 violators of residency regulations and border security were also arrested in Makkah.
He added that Makkah’s water and electrical infrastructure is easily handling the influx of pilgrims.
