Prayerful multitudes pour in Makkah for Haj

Makkah: More than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims spent the day in prayer and supplication to God at the Grand Mosque in Makkah and its adjoining areas before progressing to the tent city of Mina tomorrow, which will mark the beginning of Haj.

The spectre of the H1N1 virus, which has claimed four lives so far, had at least a few of the pilgrims fazed but the huge majority already jamming Islam's holiest city opted not to wear face masks and many simply said they were not worried any more.

Even so, it was hard to miss posters highlighting the A(H1N1) threat in the streets, and on hotel facades and lobbies.

"The pilgrims are largely unconcerned even after the announcement of first swine flu fatalities by the Ministry of Health. There is no panic or anxiety about any outbreak of the pandemic among the pilgrims," Saudi sources said.

Health

"At the same time, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of pilgrims approaching hospitals and health centres in the holy city to take swine flu shots," a Health Ministry official told Gulf News.

The Ministry of Health on Saturday announced the death of four foreign pilgrims due to H1N1 infections. The Ministry statement identified the dead as a Moroccan woman, a Sudanese man, an Indian man (all aged 75), and a 17-year-old Nigerian girl.

"The four had not followed "recommended procedures, especially vaccination against H1N1," the ministry statement added.

Abdullah Al Ameen, a Sudanese pilgrim, remarked: "We heard about the death of an aged Sudanese pilgrim due to swine flu. But we are not scared, and we all are eagerly waiting for the great days of Haj to win the blessings of God."

Earlier this week, the ministry had announced that 20 pilgrims had been diagnosed with the disease, with 12 of them leaving hospitals after making a full recovery.

Authorities have mobilised all resources to confront the threat of the pandemic. Thermal cameras have been installed at air and sea terminals in Jeddah where most pilgrims arrive.

Some 15,000 health workers have already been deployed, and hospitals have made arrangements for hundreds of extra beds to handle any increase in the number of H1N1 cases.

Meanwhile, the high-tech Jamarat Bridge Complex, which is fully operational for this year's Haj, is expected to make a big difference in terms of both safety and comfort of pilgrims performing the stoning ritual.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs announced that the state-of-the-art bridge has been designed to accommodate five million pilgrims.

It enables some 300,000 pilgrims to perform the ritual in an hour. Speaking to Gulf News, Habeeb Zainul Abideen, undersecretary at the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, and secretary general of the Higher Authority for the Development of Makkah and Madinah, said that the bridge will enable the pilgrims to perform the stoning ritual from all the five levels of the bridge.

Meanwhile, Faiq Bayari, head of the Tawafa Organisation for Haj Pilgrims from Arab states, said the number of Arab pilgrims would range between 340,000 and 350,000.