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Rain and flu fears dampen start of hajj rites in Mecca

November 26, 2009 Edition 1

HADEEL AL-SHALCHI Sapa-AP

JIDDAH: Muslim pilgrims surrounded Islam's holiest site, the Kaaba, in traditional white robes yesterday, but with new additions - umbrellas and face masks - as the heaviest rains in years and fears of Novel Influenza A (H1N1) marked the start of the annual hajj activities.

Saudi authorities, fearing the pilgrimage, which draws at least two million people, could prove a perfect incubator for the flu virus, have spent months putting precautions in place.

But the authorities scrambled to deal with sudden downpours that could heighten the risk of stampedes.

The rain led to epic traffic jams, the flooding of pilgrims' tents and streets that were awash as the faithful tried to make their way to the Kaaba in Mecca.

The hajj rites begin with pilgrims circling seven times, in a mosque courtyard, around the cube-shaped shrine, draped in black cloth.

At times, crowds of men and women under umbrellas, some wearing surgical masks against the flu, circled in the rain-soaked courtyard. But at other times during the day, the courtyard was virtually deserted, as were the surrounding streets, usually jammed tight with people praying, eating and selling goods on the hajj's opening day.

"It was surreal, there were a lot of people yet it was quiet," said Shahidah Sharif, from Atlanta, Georgia, after she performed the circumambulation.

"I think the rain calmed the atmosphere and cleansed it."

Many people were struggling just to get to the site. Floods closed down part of the main road to Mecca from Jiddah, with cars backed up for 35km. - Sapa-AP