RIYADH, 30 January 2003 — More than 765,000 pilgrims have arrived in the Kingdom. Up until Tuesday, 719,000 pilgrims arrived by plane, 35,300 by land and 10,800 by sea, according to Maj. Gen. Abdul Aziz Sajeeni, director general of the Passports Department, quoted by the SPA news agency. Among the arrivals are 5,000 Iraqi pilgrims who crossed the Arar border post in northern Saudi Arabia. Some 17,000 Iraqi pilgrims are expected to perform Haj this year.
At least 600,000 more pilgrims are expected to arrive from all over the world before the arrival cutoff date of Feb. 5, six days ahead of the Haj climax, which is expected to fall this year on Feb. 11. These will be joined by at least half a million pilgrims from across Saudi Arabia and another 200,000 to 300,000 faithful from Makkah itself.
The authorities have stepped up preparations for the pilgrimage. The Health Ministry has prepared some 21 hospitals and 300 medical centers, with a capacity of 7,000 beds, in Makkah, the surrounding sites and the holy city of Madinah, some 450 km to the north.
An extra 9,500 medical staff including 115 specialists from the United States, Britain and Malaysia have been brought in.
The Saudi Red Crescent Society set up 115 centers with 314 ambulances.
Saudi Telecom boosted phone circuits to 40,000 from last year’s 35,000 and the mobile network has been expanded for more than 1.5 million lines. (AFP)
