Pilgrims walk in the street of Mina, Mecca, on Aug. 19, 2018. Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday that it is ready to facilitate the transportation for more than 2 million pilgrims to the holy sites in Mecca, Saudi Press Agency reported. (Xinhua/Dong Liwei)
RIYADH, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Hajj season started on Sunday with the Day of Tarwiyah ritual with 1,966,461 pilgrims.
The General Authority for Statistics announced the figures on Saudi Press Agency on Sunday, highlighting the total pilgrim number of this year's Hajj will be announced on the evening of Arafat Day on Monday.
Arafat is the most important Hajj ritual, while other rituals would continue during the week.
To ensure the safety of pilgrims, a comprehensive security and safety plan has been set up to transport people between ritual sites.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry announced another plan to protect the wellbeing of pilgrims with the allocations of 25 hospitals and 155 health centers at all sites with the capacity of 5,000 beds, 180 ambulances and 100 vehicles that were converted to ICU mobile units.
