SAUDI ARABIA: More than two million Muslim pilgrims pelted stones on second day of sacred ritual during haj pilgrimage

Record ID: 189483

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: More than two million Muslim pilgrims pelted stones on second day of sacred ritual during haj pilgrimage
  • Date: 11th January 2006
  • Summary: AMBULANCES DRIVING PAST PILGRIMS
  • Embargoed: 26th January 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA4FMPIBORRGKLZUW8J0EB245RN
  • Story Text: More than two million Muslim pilgrims pelted stones
    at symbols of the devil in the second day of a sacred
    ritual on Wednesday (January 11) amid tight security to
    avert stampedes during the haj pilgrimage.
    Pilgrims from all over the world gather in the holy
    city of Mecca each year for the five-day haj, which is a
    duty for every able-bodied Muslim at least once in a
    lifetime.
    Haj, one of the most striking manifestations of
    religious faith in the world today, has often been marred
    by tragedy.
    Some 250 pilgrims were crushed to death in 2004 at
    Mena's Jamarat Bridge, on which the millions of pilgrims
    must stand while they hurl stones at three thick walls in a
    symbolic casting out of the devil and rejection of
    temptation.
    Some pilgrims headed to the bridge early on Wednesday
    to avoid crowds later, when many prefer to follow to the
    letter Prophet Mohammad's example of stoning after noon
    prayers.
    This year's haj has been overshadowed by the collapse
    of a Mecca hostel that killed 76 people last week and
    warnings of a possible spread of deadly bird flu due to the
    huge crowds.
    Two children in Turkey, from where many pilgrims come,
    are confirmed to have died from the H5N1 strain. Many
    pilgrims come from east Asia, where 76 people have died
    since 2003.
    The deadly virus is hard for people to catch and is
    almost invariably transmitted by close contact with
    infected poultry.
    Saudi Arabia has spent 25 million riyals (6.7 million
    US dollars) on Tamiflu, a drug that can reduce the severity
    of the current bird flu strain if taken within days of
    symptoms appearing.
    It has deployed 60,000 security men to control the huge
    crowd and avert attacks by Islamist militants.
    Dozens of ambulances were spread throughout the Jamarat
    area and helicopters monitored pilgrim traffic, which flowed smoothly in the cool early hours.
    Pilgrims perform the stoning ritual three times between
    Tuesday and Thursday, when they make a final visit to the
    Grand Mosque in Mecca, according to rules laid out by
    Prophet Mohammad 1,400 years ago. It passed without
    incident on Tuesday.
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