(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Some 1.4 million pilgrims, who came from 188 countries, started leaving Saudi Arabia on Thursday at the end of this year’s Haj.Although the Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam, officially comes to a close on Friday, pilgrims are allowed to leave a day early after taking part in the stoning of the devil ritual.Pilgrims woke up early on Thursday and began stoning three huge concrete structures in Mina, representing Satan, straight after sunrise, in accordance with the teachings of Islam.After the stoning, pilgrims performed the final tawaf, or circumambulation, around the Holy Kaaba.Thousands of pilgrims were later seen loading trucks with luggage and departing their hotels in the holy city of Makkah.A majority of them travel the 100-kilometre journey to Jeddah international airport to take flights back home.Saudi Arabia has deployed more than 100,000 troops to maintain the security of the pilgrims during the Haj.The authorities have declared this year’s Haj a grand success after it finished free of accidents and diseases, especially the deadly Mers virus which has so far killed 60 people worldwide, 51 of them in the kingdom itself.The overall number of pilgrims at this year’s Haj was just under two million, sharply down from last year’s 3.2 million.Foreign pilgrims accounted for 1.38 million of them, compared with 1.75 million in 2012.Officials said the smaller number contributed to the success.The pilgrimage was monitored by more than 5,000 cameras installed at all holy sites, managed by the Command and Control Centre for Haj Security./149
16 October 2013 - 20:30
News ID: 473214
Saudi Arabia has deployed more than 100,000 troops to maintain the security of the pilgrims during the annual pilgrimage.
