Hajj pilgrims will have to wear e-bracelets in wake of deadly stampede

Muslim pilgrims joining this year’s hajj in Saudi Arabia will have to wear an electronic safety bracelet, after more than 2,000 died in a stampede last year. The high-tech safety measure will help authorities provide care “and identify people”, newspapers reported. The bracelets are water resistant, connected to a GPS location system and store each pilgrim’s personal information including address and medical records. In another safety measure, more than 800 surveillance cameras have been installed at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site.

The new device would allow better service provision by government and private sector bodies including for those who are lost, elderly and do not speak Arabic

Saudi official Eisa Mohammad Rawas

At least 2,297 pilgrims died during the stampede on September 24 during last year’s hajj. It was the worst disaster in the history of the pilgrimage and some foreign officials expressed concerns about difficulty in identifying the victims. The tragedy happened as pilgrims made their way in searing temperatures to the Jamarat, the place where they ritually stone the devil in the city of Mina in western Saudi Arabia. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the interior minister who also chairs the hajj committee, ordered a probe immediately after the stampede disaster last year but there has been no word on its findings.

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