Nearly 2 million Muslims on Sunday headed to Mount Arafat near the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia to mark the peak of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Saudi authorities have tightened security across the holy sites for the five-day Hajj that started on Saturday to prevent the recurrence of a stampede that caused hundreds of deaths last year.
This year’s event has been free of trouble so far, said a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, Mansur al-Turki.
White-robed pilgrims set off for Mount Arafat at sunrise from the valley of Mina, around seven kilometres north-east of Mecca.
The pilgrims will stay in Arafat until sunset when they will head to the nearby plain area of Muzdalifah to stay overnight, before returning to Mina for a symbolic stone-throwing at the devil.
Some 769 Muslim pilgrims died in a stampede during the stone-throwing ritual in last year’s Hajj, according to Saudi official figures.
A dpa tally and other independent reports, however, indicated that around 2,000 pilgrims died in the crush.
Around 1.8 million Muslims are attending this year’s Hajj, according to Saudi officials.
They include 1.3 Muslims from 164 countries and the rest are domestic pilgrims.
Muslims are expected to perform the Hajj, one of Islam's five pillars, at least once in their lifetime provided they are fit enough and have the financial means to do so.
