JEDDAH – Maj. Gen. Muhammad Abdullah Al-Qarni, Commander of the Civil Defense Forces in Haj, confirmed that no accidents took place during the stoning ritual in Mina and Friday prayers in Makkah. He said Civil Defense helicopters transmitted aerial pictures of the movement of pilgrims to and from the Grand Mosque and authorities were confident that everything was running in an orderly fashion. “The situation was calm; pilgrims were divided between performing Friday prayer at the Grand Mosque and stoning the Jamarat in Mina. This contributed to easing the crowding to some extent,” he explained. “The Civil Defense and all other agencies participating in the Haj operations have carried out their plans successfully. Three stages for the Civil Defense plan have been implemented successfully. These include receiving pilgrims on Al-Tarwiyah Day, ascent to Arafat, resting in Muzdalifah and the movement back to Mina for stoning the Jamarat on the day of Eid Al-Adha and on the Thashreeq days (three days following Eid).” Maj. Gen. Al-Qarni said no major problems took place except for a minor glitch at one of the train stations on Arafat Day. The glitch was caused when a large group of pilgrims who did not have Haj permits attempted to illegally board a train. “This prompted us to prepare a plan to keep large crowds at bay and protect other pilgrims from the dangers of overcrowding,” he said, while adding that no injuries or deaths occurred and authorities are dealing with the illegal pilgrims. He also said no injuries have been reported and most of the emergency cases that have occurred over the past few days were simple cases of exhaustion due to the rising temperatures in the holy sites. As for the latest preparations in Mina, Al-Qarni confirmed the completion of all plans and services to serve pilgrims. He said plans are in place for organizing movement and traffic flow in the vicinity of the Jamarat Bridge and the roads leading to the bridge, aside from all aspects of firefighting and safety at the bridge. “Inside tent camps, there are wall-mounted fire alarms and hoses. We have a special plan for the 12th day as there is a risk of bottlenecks forming. The plan focuses on coordination with the Ministry of Haj and the Tawafa establishments on crowd management and the grouping of pilgrims according to plans. We rely on convincing a large number of domestic pilgrims and organizers of foreign pilgrims not to hurry and stay in Mina until the 13th day in order to stone the Jamarat. This will help reduce crowding at the Jamarat, on the roads leading to the Grand Mosque and inside the Haram during the farewell Tawaf (Tawaf Al-Wida),” Al-Qarni said.
