MECCA, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia sought to assure the public that the kingdom was safe and free of health scares as an estimated 2 million Muslims streamed into a sprawling tent city near Mecca on Thursday for the start of the annual Islamic hajj pilgrimage.
Earlier this year, Saudi authorities banned people from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea — the countries hardest hit in the Ebola epidemic — from getting visas as a precaution against the virus. The decision has affected about 7,400 pilgrims from the three countries.
The hajj sees massive crowds from around the world gather every year around the cube-shaped Kaaba in Mecca as part of a five-day spiritual journey meant to cleanse the faithful of sin and bring them closer to God.
The kingdom has not discovered a single case of Ebola, said Manal Mansour, the head of Saudi Health Ministry’s department for prevention of infectious diseases. Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry, said the kingdom is also facing threats from terrorists but is prepared to ensure a safe hajj.
