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Madinah set to serve Hajj pilgrims

Arab News
August 3, 2017

Jeddah, Aug 3: Madinah governorate has started implementing its plan to serve pilgrims and visitors to the Prophet’s Mosque during this year’s Hajj season, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The plan of the governorate and its affiliated municipalities covers environmental health, markets, public hygiene, road safety, lighting and a 24-hour monitoring system throughout the Hajj season.

Mayor of the Madinah region, Mohammed bin Abdulhadi Al-Amri, said the plan will mobilize human and material resources to provide the highest level of service to pilgrims. The plan is being supported and followed up by Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman.

It takes into consideration the safety of pilgrims and visitors to the Prophet’s Mosque and its environs.

The plan also takes into account increased commercial activity, the number of pilgrims, speedy delivery of services, intensification of environmental health services, how to face the anticipated waste increase, combating commercial fraud, keeping streets tidy, and ensuring the safety and quality of food and water.

The plan will monitor roads used by pilgrims on a 24-hour basis, and stores’ compliance with required health certificates.

It entails operation of government and private slaughterhouses with strict controls on veterinary measures and air pollutants.

It also entails 24-hour readiness to treat emergencies, respond to police and civil defense requests, transport the dead, and operate and maintain lighting networks, tunnels and other facilities.

More than 356 workers are assigned in the central area on a three-shift system for 75 days. Workers and equipment are distributed in all municipalities to ensure proper implementation of work.

Store owners are under strict instruction to allocate waste compressors that can be transported to designated disposal areas.

The plan includes strict controls on hotels, food-processing plants and restaurants preparing meals for pilgrims.

Environmental health teams are assigned to monitor stations and rest houses located on highways passed by pilgrims on their way to Madinah.

The governorate and government agencies related to Hajj service providers are coordinating to iron out difficulties that may impede the progress of plans and programs, and the mobilization of human and material resources.

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News Network
April 11,2020

Dubai, Apr 11: Saudi Arabia has reported another 382 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 4,033, the Ministry of Health announced on Saturday.

The ministry also confirmed five more deaths from the virus, pushing the death toll in Kingdom to 52.

A total of 35 people has made full recovery from the deadly disease, taking the tally of patients recovered to 720.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

Beirut, Aug 4: A massive explosion has shaken the Lebanese capital of Beirut, with a very high number of casualties expected.

A warehouse at the Beirut Port caught fire on Tuesday afternoon, triggering a huge explosion, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Several smaller explosions were heard before the bigger one occurred.

Abbas Ibrahim, the head of Lebanon’s General Security, said that “highly explosive materials” confiscated earlier had been stored at the site.

Footage shared on social media captured the moment of the bigger explosion, with a colossal shock wave seen traveling fast across several hundreds of meters and shrouding the area in thick smoke.

The blast left enormous material damage to the surrounding buildings and structures. But it was not immediately known how big an area was affected.

There was also no immediate casualty count. Graphic amateur video from the scene showed bodies strewn on the ground, with their clothes blown off.

The NNA said rescue operations were underway. Ambulances were seen heading toward the scene in central Beirut.

Lebanese LBC television channel quoted Lebanon’s Health Minister Hamad Hasan as saying that the blast had caused a “very high number of injuries” and “extensive damage.”

Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud said an unspecified number of firefighters dispatched to extinguish the initial fire had been killed in the explosion.

“As they were putting out the fire, the explosion took place and we’ve [lost them],” he said, breaking down on live TV.

The explosion comes at a time when the Arab country is passing through its worst economic and financial crisis in decades, and amid rising tensions with Israel.

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News Network
March 6,2020

Riyadh, Mar 6: Saudi Arabia on Thursday emptied Islam's holiest site for sterilisation over fears of the new coronavirus, an unprecedented shutdown state media said will last while the year-round Umrah pilgrimage is suspended.

The kingdom halted the pilgrimage for its own citizens and residents on Wednesday, on top of restrictions announced last week on foreign pilgrims to stop the disease from spreading.

State television relayed images of an empty white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba -- a large black cube structure inside Mecca's Grand Mosque -- which is usually packed with tens of thousands of pilgrims.

As a "precautionary measure", the area will remain closed as long as the umrah suspension lasts but prayers will be allowed inside the mosque, state-run Saudi Press Agency cited a mosque official as saying.

Additionally, the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque in the city of Medina will be closed an hour after the evening "Isha" prayer and will reopen an hour before the dawn "Fajr" prayer to allow cleaning and sterilisation, the official added.

A group of cleaners was seen scrubbing and mopping the tiles around the Kaaba, a structure draped in gold-embroidered gold cloth towards which Muslims around the world pray.

A Saudi official told news agency the decision to close the area was "unprecedented".

On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia suspended the umrah for its own citizens and residents over fears of the coronavirus spreading to Islam's holiest cities.

The move came after authorities last week suspended visas for the umrah and barred citizens from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council from entering Mecca and Medina.

Saudi Arabia on Thursday declared three new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of reported infections to five.

The umrah, which refers to the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that can be undertaken at any time of year, attracts millions of Muslims from across the globe annually.

The decision to suspend the umrah mirrors a precautionary approach across the Gulf to cancel mass gatherings from concerts to sporting events.

It comes ahead of the holy fasting month of Ramadan starting in late April, which is a favoured period for pilgrimage.

It is unclear how the coronavirus will affect the hajj, due to start in late July.

Some 2.5 million faithful travelled to Saudi Arabia from across the world in 2019 to take part in the hajj, which is one of the five pillars of Islam as Muslim obligations are known.

The event is a massive logistical challenge for Saudi authorities, with colossal crowds cramming into relatively small holy sites, making attendees vulnerable to contagion.

Already reeling from slumping oil prices, the kingdom risks losing billions of dollars annually from religious tourism as it tightens access to the sites.

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