Haj pilgrims tested by deadly downpours

The hundreds of thousands of tunic-clad pilgrims who made their way to Mount Arafat for the annual Haj today are lucky to be alive after surviving torrential rains which cost the lives of at least people.

The Saudi authorities, already faced with the onset of the H1N1 virus in the midst of the pilgrimage, said that they would "control the situation". Local residents were asked not to leave their homes. But in just one day, four people in Mecca and at least 44 in Jeddah were killed. Today, local media are reporting 83 dead.

Video sent to us by Ahmed Al-Omran.

Floods in Jeddah

Photos sent by Susie, one of our Observers in Jeddah.

“The pilgrims put their coats on, even though it’s banned to wear anything but a tunic”

Adel Akili, 30, runs the "Charq Mekkah" forum from Mecca.

Mecca suffered torrential downpours but Jeddah was affected most with flooding and accidents. Now things have got better. The territorial army has set up help points every 20 metres, plus traffic of both cars and pilgrims has been detoured around flooded roads. It's stopped raining now, although more is predicted along the way.

The pilgrims put their coats on, even though it's banned to wear anything but a tunic during the pilgrimage. Some missed out on the Mina stage of the walk to avoid the crowds. They'd rather do that than miss the bit on Mount Arafat [where Prophet Mohammed gave his last ever speech], which is obligatory."

Floods in Mecca

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