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MECCA, Saudi Arabia — More than a million Muslim pilgrims poured into the holy city of Mecca ahead of the annual hajj, with authorities vowing to hold a safer pilgrimage amid searing heat.
Officials have beefed up heat mitigation measures hoping to avoid a repeat of last year's hajj, which saw 1,301 pilgrims die as temperatures reached 51.8 degrees Celsius.
Temperatures were forecast to exceed 40 degrees Celsius this week as one of the world's largest annual religious gatherings starts on Wednesday.
The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means.
As of Friday, more than 1.3 million pilgrims had arrived in Saudi Arabia for the multi-day pilgrimage, according to officials.
This year, authorities have mobilised more than 40 government agencies and 250,000 officials, doubling their efforts against heat-related illness following the lethal heatwave of 2024.
Shaded areas have been expanded by 50,000 square metres, thousands more medics will be on standby, and more than 400 cooling units will be deployed, Saudi Arabia's hajj minister Tawfiq Al Rabiah told AFP last week.
On Monday, with temperatures topping 40 degrees Celsius, the health ministry said 44 cases of heatstroke had already been treated.
The latest artificial intelligence technology will also help monitor the flood of data and footage, including video from a new fleet of drones, from across Mecca to better manage the mammoth crowds.
Despite the punishing heat, pilgrims were overjoyed as they arrived in Mecca.
'Very, very, very hot'
"This is really a blessing from Allah," Abdul Majid Ati, a Filipino lawyer and Sharia counsellor, told AFP near the Grand Mosque.
"We feel so peaceful and safe in this place."
Abdulhamid, from Nigeria, said he was "very happy" to be performing his second pilgrimage in a row at just 27 years old.
But the young man said he never walks out without his sunglasses, describing the temperatures in Mecca as "very, very, very hot".
The rites in the holy city and its surroundings, which follow a lunar calendar, fall again this year during the hot month of June.
For Mariama, a 52-year-old pilgrim from Senegal, the journey to Mecca has fulfilled a life-long dream
"I was dreaming about it, thinking about it every time to come here to do the hajj," she said.