Hajj rituals start amid steps to avert any tragedy

The Hajj Commission reported that by the weekend 1,526,603 people had arrived in the kingdom and more were on their way.

Saudis and other Muslims resident in the country, it added, would swell the number of the faithful undertaking the hajj to some two million -- about the same number as last year.

The official SPA news agency said Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, who also heads the Hajj Supreme Committee, had taken charge of security arrangements and was marshalling security and civil defence forces in the holy city.

Last year's hajj was marred by a deadly stampede which killed 364 people in the arid valley of Mina near Makkah, during a ritual which involves casting stones at pillars representing Satan.

A similar stampede the previous year saw 251 people trampled to death during the stoning ceremony.

Both tragedies occurred at the entrance to the Jamarat bridge, from where pilgrims cast their stones at three pillars that are supposed to symbolise the powers of evil.

Immediately after last year's stampede, religious leaders ordered the bridge, which created a dangerous bottleneck, dismantled and organisers this year are confident a similar tragedy will be averted.

Since many of those making the pilgrimage are elderly people who have saved up all their lives to be able to make the pilgrimage, hundreds die during the pilgrimage each year of natural causes.

The Hajj Supreme Committee said on Monday 202 pilgrims had died since arriving in the kingdom, generally those suffering from heart problems.

The only other incident was a short-circuit at a hotel housing Yemeni pilgrims in Makkah on Monday which caused a fire that was quickly put out, though some people were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

The health ministry said more than 9,600 medical personnel have been mobilised and 21 field hospitals set up at Makkah and Medina, Islam's two holiest places, for this year's pilgrimage.

The hajj will begin today, with the faithful assembling at Mina.

At dawn on Friday, they will begin moving towards Mount Arafat where they will spend the day praying and asking for Almighty's forgiveness at the summit, in a symbolic waiting for the last judgment.

The pilgrims then return to Mina to sacrifice an animal, usually a sheep, for Eid al-Azha, the Feast of the Sacrifice, on Saturday.

They will spend another two days there for the stoning ceremony that symbolises a willingness to renounce evil.

The pilgrimage, which ends on Monday, is one of the five pillars of Islam, and is an obligation for all Muslims at least once during their lives if they can afford to do so.