Gulf | Saudi Arabia
Rare rainstorms snarl Haj, soaking millions of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
Heavy rainstorms soaked pilgrims and flooded the road into Makkah, snarling Haj as millions of pilgrims headed for the holy sites
- AP
- Published: 16:58 November 25, 2009
- Pilgrims take cover as heavy rain hits Makkah. An estimated 2.5 million pilgrims have converged on the city for the annual Haj, as workers toil round the clock to complete construction projects designed to avoid deadly stampedes.
- Image Credit: AP
Jeddah: Rare, heavy rainstorms soaked pilgrims and flooded the road into Makkah, snarling Haj as millions of pilgrims headed for the holy sites.
The downpours add an extra hazard on top of intense concerns about the spread of swine flu.
Pilgrims porting umbrellas, some wearing face masks for fear of the flu, circled the Ka’aba in Makkah, the opening ritual for Haj. But the shrine and the nearby, rain-soaked streets did not see the usual massive crowds, because many tried to stay inside nearby hotels or were caught up in the traffic jams heading into the city.
Saudi authorities were clearly concerned the rains could worsen the potential dangers. Civil authorities urged pilgrims to move cautiously and not to rush.
This year has brought the added worry that the massing of more than 3 million people from around the world could bring a swine flu outbreak.
For months ahead of the pilgrimage, the Saudi government has been working with the United States' Center for Disease Control and Prevention to set up clinics and precautionary measures to stem any outbreak.
So far, four pilgrims have died from the H1N1 virus since arriving in Saudi Arabia in recent days, and 67 pilgrims have been diagnosed with the virus, Saudi Health Minister Abdullah Al Rabeeah told the Arab news network Al Jazeera English.
Shahul Ebrahim, a consultant from the Atlanta, Georgia-based CDC at the Haj, said it was too early to tell if the rains could exacerbate the spread of H1N1, the flu virus.
"Rain can lead to other waterborne diseases ... such as the common cold, flu. But we still don't know how it will effect H1N1. We can't predict," he told reporters.
So far, the rain was mainly just causing traffic snarls. Winter is the rainy season in Makkah, and light showers are not uncommon, but such a heavy downpour has not been seen for years during Haj.
Civil Defence spokesman Maj. Abdullah Al Harthi said his organisation has plans ready to deal with flooding, including 300 buses to evacuate pilgrims if necessary. He said no casualties have been reported from the rains, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
One lane of the main road into Makkah was closed by flooding, reducing it to one lane, said Amer Al Amer, an Interior Ministry spokesman.
"It cannot handle the pressure of all the people coming from outside Makkah," he said, adding that it would cause delays of several hours for people trying to reach the sites.
The numbers of pilgrims are expected to exceed last year, when some 3 million attended, Al Amer told journalists.
Streets were flooded in the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah, the entry point for many pilgrims. Pilgrims yesterday were making their way to Makkah to perform the circling of the Ka’aba and to the nearby desert valley of Mina, where a sprawling tent city has been set up for them to reside in.
Water covered the floors in many of the tents, said Sulaiman Hamad, a 29-year-old pilgrim in Mina. He said the scene was "muddy, but manageable," with many pilgrims throwing blankets over their heads when they walked outside.
Rain fell sporadically throughout the day, and stopped by late afternoon in many sites - though it continued to fall in Makkah. Al Amer and other authorities were optimistic that flooded areas would dry by evening.
On Thursday, the mass of pilgrims will flock to Mount Arafat, a plateau outside Makkah where the prophet Mohammad delivered his farewell sermon.
They then proceed to Mina, where over the next three days they perform a rite stoning three stone walls in a symbolic rejection of the devil.
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