MINA: Some two million pilgrims streamed into Mina Valley from the holy city of Makkah on Sunday, marking the beginning of Haj.

Authorities announced at noon that all the pilgrims had reached Mina from Makkah. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Mohammed bin Nayef said the number of pilgrims from outside the country totalled 1,379,531, down 21 per cent on last year’s 1.75m. Around 1.29m of them had flown to Saudi Arabia from 188 countries, he said, without giving a figure for pilgrims residing in the kingdom whose number is believed to have been halved.

The kingdom cut by 20 per cent the quotas for pilgrims allowed in from abroad over fears of MERS virus and because of massive projects to expand the capacity of the Grand Mosque.

Saudi Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabia told reporters late on Saturday the authorities had so far detected no cases among the pilgrims of the MERS virus which has killed 60 people worldwide, 51 of them in Saudi Arabia.

Authorities have stepped up measures to curb ‘illegal’ pilgrims who sneak into Makkah through desert roads.

Security officials have said that as many as 31,000 Saudi and expatriate pilgrims were turned back for not carrying legal permits, while around 12,600 others were arrested.—AFP