MECCA, Saudi Arabia, June  4, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - More than a million pilgrims
joined Islam's most important rite under a beating sun on Wednesday, as the
hajj kicked off with the Saudi hosts scrambling to avoid last year's 1,000-plus deaths in sweltering heat.

With temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit),
robed pilgrims slowly circled the Kaaba, the black cube at the heart of Mecca's Grand Mosque which is Islam's holiest site.

Others have arrived en masse in the sprawling tent city of Mina on Mecca's
outskirts, where they will stay overnight before the hajj's high-point Thursday -- prayers on Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his final sermon.

"You feel like you're not in this world," Khitam, a 63-year-old pilgrim,
told AFP by phone, saying that "before hajj, I used to watch the Grand Mosque
on TV all day."

Authorities said about 1.5 million pilgrims had arrived in Saudi Arabia for
the hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam that must be performed at least once by all Muslims with the means.

Authorities have ratcheted up heat protection measures such as extra shade
to avoid a repeat of last year, when 1,301 people died as temperatures hit
51.8C.

On Wednesday, pilgrims will perform the tawaf -- walking seven times around
the Kaaba, which Muslims pray towards each day.

Before entering Mecca, pilgrims must first enter a state of purity, called
ihram, which requires special dress and behaviour.

Men don a seamless shroud-like white garment that emphasises unity among
believers, regardless of their social status or nationality.

Women, in turn, wear loose dresses exposing just their faces and hands.
Pilgrims arriving on buses had already begun trickling into Mina on Tuesday
afternoon, greeted by staff offering them coffee and dates.

"I am so happy, it's such an amazing feeling," said Reem al-Shogre, a
35-year-old Saudi performing the pilgrimage for the first time.

- Artificial intelligence -

Following last year's lethal heatwave, authorities have mobilised more than
40 government agencies and 250,000 officials to improve protection.

Shaded areas have been enlarged by 50,000 square metres (12 acres),
thousands of additional medics will be on standby and more than 400 cooling
units will be deployed, Hajj Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah told AFP last week.

Artificial intelligence technology will help process the deluge of data,
including video from a new fleet of drones, to better manage the massive crowds.

Authorities said most of the deaths last year were among unregistered
pilgrims who lacked access to air-conditioned tents and buses.

This year, they have cracked down on the unregistered, using frequent
raids, drone surveillance and a barrage of text alerts.

A billboard reading "No hajj without permit" greeted pilgrims as they
arrived in Mecca.

Hajj permits are allocated to countries on a quota basis and distributed to
individuals by lottery.

But even for those who can obtain them, the steep costs prompt many to
attempt the hajj without a permit, even though they risk arrest and deportation if caught.

Large crowds at the hajj have proved hazardous in the past, most notably in
2015 when a stampede during the "stoning the devil" ritual in Mina killed up to 2,300 people in the deadliest hajj disaster.

Saudi Arabia earns billions of dollars a year from the hajj, and the lesser
pilgrimage known as umrah, undertaken at other times of the year.