Mount Arafat: Nearly 2.5 million Muslim hajj pilgrims converged on Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia. Tens of thousands of stewards reached Mount Arafat in a bid to prevent any repetition of previous years’ deadly stampedes.
Movable crowd control barriers were erected all around the foot of the rocky hill outside Mecca, also known as Jabal al-Rahma or Mount of Mercy, where the faithful arrived on foot and in a seemingly endless line of buses.
Raising their palms skywards, the pilgrims set off on the climb to the summit where they held prayers to atone for their sins in a ritual that is regarded as the high point of the annual hajj.
Thousands of faithful had spent the night under the stars, sleeping on prayer rugs or pieces of cardboard.
(Agencies)
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