MAKKAH: Saudi Arabia has begun issuing Haj pilgrims with identification bracelets one year after a stampede killed around 2,300 people.

The bracelets are a reassurance to many pilgrims, though their distribution has been far from systematic ahead of the formal start of Haj on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia announced an investigation into last year’s stampede which happened during the stoning ritual of Haj, but findings have not been published so far.

Public statements and Saudi press reports show that this year changes have been made to prevent overcrowding.

After the disaster — the worst in Haj history — some foreign officials expressed concern about difficulties in identifying the dead.

Each plasticised paper bracelet carries a bar code readable by smartphone. It indicates the pilgrim’s identity, nationality and place of lodging in Makkah.

Additional data includes a contact in the pilgrim’s delegation and details provided when his or her visa was issued, the vice secretary of the Ministry of Haj and Umrah, Issa Rawas, said.

“The aim is to equip all pilgrims” from abroad, who are expected to number more than 1.4 million, he said.

Rawas did not specify the number of bracelets issued so far.

In the crowds which filled the Grand Mosque and its surroundings day and night, correspondents saw numerous pilgrims wearing the bracelets.

But some of them were issued by travel agents and didn’t include the information stored in the government’s bracelet.

Nabil Melhem, 61, a Palestinian bricklayer, wore one of the official bracelets, which he said cost about two riyals. It is “like a passport”, he said.

The bracelet is two centimetres wide and coloured green for pilgrims from Arab countries. “If we get lost, if we die, if we are sick or unable to talk, they can contact our delegation, thanks to the bracelet,” Melhem said.

About two million pilgrims have already converged on western parts of the kingdom for the pilgrimage.

In one of the other precautionary measures implemented this year, access to the holy Kaaba has been suspended during prayers, and the walk around it is stopped to avoid overcrowding.

Security has also been reinforced around the holy sites, where officers in red berets and camouflage uniforms man green plastic barricades to control the crowds.

Published in Dawn September 10th, 2016