Saudi government has announced that starting this year, all pilgrims heading to Mecca and Medina for Hajj and Umrah will be provided with electronic identification bracelets.
These e-bracelets will contain the personal and medical information of pilgrims and will help the authorities to identify and provide care services.
The water-resistant and GPS enabled bracelets can also be used to guide non-Arabic speaking pilgrims regarding different stages of pilgrimage and times of prayer.
In addition to bracelets, a thousand new surveillance cameras have been installed at Kaaba to monitor pilgrim movements and identify any kind of terrorist activity.
These new safety measures are taken in wake of last year’s stampede that killed hundreds of pilgrims and it was difficult to identify them later.
Each year, millions of Muslims from around the world travel to the holy sites at Mecca and Medina to take part in the pilgrimage, which is one of the major obligations in Islam.
