The head of the Haj Civil Defense Forces, Maj. Gen. Abed Al-Sekhairi, said that this year’s plans will see the implementation of new mechanisms for the first time to spot violations and impose immediate fines on the offenders of public safety.

“The Haj public security will coordinate with the security aviation authorities to deal with and address any emergency situation that requires opening roads for field teams, equipment, pilgrims’ grouping, air evacuation operations and other tasks of the Civil Defense,” he said.

He said that about 85 percent of the Civil Defense machinery will begin operations for the first time this Haj season in addition to other monitoring and specialized equipment.

Al-Sekhairi gave the briefing on the emergency plans for this Haj season during a press conference he held recently with a number of the Civil Defense senior officers.

He said that the plans that were adopted by Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee, were drawn following studies conducted to monitor and analyze all the possible threats and dangers.

“The plans depend mostly on the lessons and experiences of past Haj seasons. They include the readiness to deal with more than 12 possible factors of risks such as heavy rainfall, floods, landslides, collapsing of buildings, fires, chemical or radiation leakages, or even cases of collective poisoning among pilgrims,” he added.

Director of Civil Defense in Makkah Region, Maj. Gen. Jamil bin Mohammed Arbaeen, said that the Civil Defense was well prepared for any eventuality.