Jeddah - Forty-eight people were killed in flash floods as the annual hajj pilgrimage began in the desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi government reported Thursday. The civil defence authority for the holy Muslim city of Mecca said that Wednesday's "torrential rains and thunderstorms" had turned streets into rivers of mud, destroyed homes and swept away cars.
The 90 millimetres of rain killed 44 in Jeddah and another four in Mecca. Saudi emergency workers rescued more than 900 people, the civil defence authority said in a statement Thursday morning.
The rains had stopped by Thursday morning, as millions of pilgrims gathered in the Arafat Plain, where the Prophet Mohammed gave his last sermon 1,377 years ago on today's date by the Islamic calendar. Pilgrims will spend the day reading the Quran and praying.
At sunset, the pilgrims will continue to Muzdalifah, before celebrating the Eid al-Adha, or the "Feast of the Sacrifice," on Friday with a feast of mutton, sharing some with the poor.
