Director of the department of market affairs in the municipality Muhammad bin Abdullah Silaihim said the municipality had stopped the restaurant from serving food about six months ago, but an Arab employee at the wedding palace rented the restaurant to some Asian expatriates, who prepared and sold food to pilgrims from their country. The Arab employee who rented the restaurant and the Asian expatriates who were running it were all arrested and being questioned.

Silaihim said all the Haj missions were asked to contract licensed restaurants only to serve their pilgrims with food.

Meanwhile, director of the department of cleanliness at the municipality said more than 3,600 workers were cleaning Madinah 24 hours a day in three shifts. He said so far, more than 11,000 tons of garbage had been removed from the central area around the Prophet's Mosque since the beginning of the season.