Saudi Arabia have deployed more than 100,000 security men who will ensure safety and security as 2017 Hajj begins
At Mina itself, 51,700 Saudi and expat employees will be employed in multiple sectors to serve the pilgrims during their stay at the tent city.
Nearly 1.72 million pilgrims have been confirmed to have flown into Saudi Arabia over the past few days with additional 200,000 pilgrims from inside the country joining to take part in this year’s Hajj pilgrimage.
This was revealed at press conference, headed by Interior Ministry spokesperson Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, who also shed light on the number of pilgrims that had been forced to turn around because of either a lack of or fake permits.
“More than 450,000 Hajj violators were returned after verifying they either lacked the proper permits or the ones they thought were legal turned out fake,” Al-Turki said.
In all, Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry forces also turned away 208,236 busses carrying illegal pilgrims while 97 fake agencies were caught and fined for providing unlicensed permits to pilgrims.
The press conference comes just one day before nearly 2 million pilgrims make their move toward Mecca where they will perform the circumambulation of the Holy Kaaba on Wednesday known as the welcoming tawaf. At the Holy Mosque, they will perform the noon prayers before they head to Mina where they will spend the rest of the day in prayers before heading for Mount Arafat on Thursday, considered the ultimate rite in performing the Hajj.
