1.7m pilgrims in Saudi Arabia for Hajj

Pilgrims: 1.7m troop to Saudi Arabia for hajj

By Bashir Rabe Mani

No fewer than 1.705 million pilgrims from all over the world have arrived in Saudi Arabia to perform this year’s hajj.

According to Statistics released by the Directorate General of Passports contained in Saudi Gazette Newspaper, out of the number, 1.602 million pilgrims came by air, 87,685 by land and 14,835 by sea.

The number of pilgrims who have arrived the Kingdom for the 1438AH Hajj exercise had an increase of 367,095 compared to the number in the same period in 1437AH,or about 32 per cent.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent in Mecca reports that no fewer than, 91,000 Nigerian pilgrims are already in Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj.

Meanwhile, more than 51,000 personnel belonging to 22 governmental bodies are currently serving pilgrims round the clock in Mecca, Medina and the Holy sites.

According to the General Statistics Authority, the services cover governorates and municipal activities.

They include control and inspiration, electricity and water, as well as religious, media and illumination, in addition to other support services.

These support services don’t include health, transport, communication and information technology services.

In a related development, the General Security Aviation Command had conducted a number of aerial inspectionon the movement of pilgrims between Medina and Mecca.

Aerial monitoring was intensified between the two Holy cities.

One of the main tasks of the aerial view is to provide logistics support to the ground team.

Meanwhile, over 16,000 units of blood and blood products are being collected for the treatment of pilgrims who are sick.

According to the Saudi Ministry of Health, the units of blood are free from infectious diseases.

Nine hospital in Mecca, four in Arafat and four in Mina, have been equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, as well as with highly skilled technicians and experts in the fields of laboratories, as well as blood banks.

Seventeen regions and governorates, as well as 27 partners from the public, private and military sectors were used to collect the 16,000 units of blood.

In the same vein, two cars and five teams have been deployed to facilitate the blood donation process.

This is in addition to ambulances, equipped with blood transfusion equipment which can respond to emergency cases.

NAN