Video: Heavy rains greet Haj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia

Sandstorm and rain are likely to hit the holy sites until Monday evening.

As nearly 2 million pilgrims from around the world braved heavy rain in Saudi Arabia on Sunday to begin the annual Haj ritual, the country's health minister said there was no sign of any outbreaks of disease.
Worshippers arrived in the Kingdom last week for the five-day ritual - a once-in-a-lifetime religious duty for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it, which retraces the route Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) took 14 centuries ago.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms forced pilgrims to take cover in tents and trudge through puddles, with civil defence warning of possible flooding throughout the evening.

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Some prayed at the Grand Mosque before heading to the Mina area or towards Mount Arafat where the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is believed to have delivered his final sermon to followers.
According to SPA, the forecast of the General Authority for Meteorology and Environment Protection said sandstorm and rain are likely to hit the holy sites and Makkah until Monday evening.

Hussain Al-Qahtani, spokesman of the authority, said that the climatic fluctuations that took place today will continue up to tomorrow evening due to high temperatures and high humidity rates that would reach its peak in the afternoon.

The area is likely to experience 43 degree of temperature while humidity would reach 65 percent in addition to the fall in the visibility to 7km.

They will all arrive by Monday morning at Mount Arafat. Eid Al Adha, or feast of the sacrifice, begins on Tuesday, when pilgrims begin three days of casting stones at walls in a symbolic renunciation of the devil.

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The authorities have been preparing for months to ensure pilgrims' safety, Health Minister Tawfiq al-Rabiah told Reuters, with more than 30,000 health workers operating 25 hospitals and offering free medical services, including complex procedures such as open heart surgery.
The interior ministry has put in place measures to confront any security threat from militant attacks to political protests, but no specific threats have been detected, a spokesman said on Saturday.
Officials aim to increase the number of Umrah and Haj pilgrims to 15 million and 5 million respectively by 2020, and hope to double the Umrah number again to 30 million by 2030.

• Saudi Arabia