This is Beirut

Saudis Use AI, Drones and Thousands of Cameras to Keep Hajj Pilgrims Safe

This is Beirut, 05/06 12:15 - Reading : less than a minute

In Mecca, a large-scale technological system operates around the clock during the Hajj. With more than 15,000 smart cameras, drones, and AI-powered software, authorities monitor crowd movements and coordinate the transport of 1.6 million pilgrims in real time using over 23,000 buses. The goal is to prevent incidents, avoid human bottlenecks, and ...

Muslim Pilgrims Ascend Mount Arafat for Hajj's Pivotal Day

This is Beirut, 05/06 10:20 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Saudi Arabia Mount Arafat Pilgrims Hajj Adha

Muslim pilgrims prayed atop Mount Arafat on Thursday during the high point of the annual hajj pilgrimage, as Saudi officials called on participants to refrain from being outside during the hottest hours of the day. Thousands of pilgrims began to gather before dawn around the hill and the surrounding plain where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to ...

Million-Plus Pilgrims Begin Hajj Under Blazing Sun

This is Beirut, 04/06 13:35 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Saudi Arabia Islam Hajj

More than a million pilgrims joined Islam's most important rite under a beating sun on Wednesday, as the hajj kicked off with the Saudi hosts scrambling to avoid last year's 1,000-plus deaths in sweltering heat. With temperatures expected to top 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), robed pilgrims slowly circled the Kaaba -- the black cube ...

Saudi Readies for 'Worst Case Scenario' in Sweltering Hajj

This is Beirut, 03/06 12:55 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Saudi Arabia Hajj Islam

Near a sprawling tent city outside Mecca, Saudi hospital staff are preparing for a flood of heat-related cases as Muslim pilgrims begin hajj this week in sweltering summer temperatures. The Mina Emergency Hospital is one of 15 such facilities operating just a few weeks a year around the annual pilgrimage to Islam's holiest sites, which in 2024 ...

Saudi Airline Resumes First Hajj Flights with Iran Since 2015

This is Beirut, 18/05 18:58 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Saudi Arabia Iran Hajj

A Saudi airline has resumed flights for Iranian hajj pilgrims to the kingdom for the first time in a decade, the latest sign of the warming ties between the countries. "Flynas resumed Iranian pilgrim flights from Imam Khomeini (airport) in Tehran on Saturday," a Saudi civil aviation authority official told AFP, speaking on condition of ...

Saudi Prepares for Another Hajj Pilgrimage Under Extreme Heat

This is Beirut, 15/01 09:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Saudi Arabia Hajj Mecca pilgrimage heat

The deaths of 1,300 pilgrims during the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia last year underscored the urgent need to mitigate dangers posed by extreme heat, with crowd management an essential first step, analysts say. Temperatures soared to 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) in the holy city of Mecca last June as 1.8 million ...

Gaza War Hangs Over Hajj as Pilgrims Flock to Mecca

This Is Beirut, 2024-06-12 10:23 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Gaza hajj Mecca Pilgrimage Saudi Arabia

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have flocked to the Saudi holy city of Mecca for the hajj pilgrimage unfolding this year in the shadow of the Gaza war. One of the world's largest annual religious gatherings officially begins on Friday, and Saudi officials are trying to keep the focus on prayers. The Gulf kingdom's minister in charge of ...

Hajj