Hajj safety: Riyadh to introduce hi-tech bracelets

99 Pakistanis among 2,070 people died in a crush when thousands converged on a walkway intersection in Makkah last Sep

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia will introduce electronic identification bracelets for all Hajj pilgrims starting this year, Saudi media said on Thursday, as part of a safety drive a year after the annual pilgrimage suffered its deadliest disaster in a generation. At least 99 Pakistanis among 2,070 people died in a crush when thousands of pilgrims converged on a walkway intersection near the holy city of Makkah last September, according to a Reuters count, the highest loss of life at the annual pilgrimage since 1990. That death toll is based on figures of fatalities provided by countries that repatriated the bodies of their citizens, but Saudi Arabia had put the official death toll at just 700.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 1^st, 2016.