40 Mecca Pilgrims Killed in Bus Crash

A bus carrying Muslims attending the annual hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca collided with a truck in eastern Saudi Arabia, killing 40 pilgrims and injuring 10 others, the state news agency reported.

The bus, from the United Arab Emirates, was carrying more than 60 pilgrims. The Saudi Press Agency said 37 Pakistanis, a Saudi, an Egyptian and a Syrian died after the bus caught fire on the road leading from the Saudi-Emirates border.

In Egypt, a pilgrim died and 12 others were injured Wednesday when their vehicle bound for Mecca overturned on a road in the northern Sinai Peninsula, police said.

The hajj to Mecca, the birthplace of 7th century prophet Muhammad and home of Islam’s holiest shrine--is one of the pillars of Islam. Muslims who are financially and physically able are obliged to make the pilgrimage at least once.

This year, Saudi authorities are expecting as many as 2.5 million people to perform the hajj, which begins Wednesday and runs for four days. The figure is well above estimates by travel agents, who had predicted fewer pilgrims because of the war against terrorism.

The Saudi government usually does not announce the number of security forces it deploys in Mecca during the hajj, but it is believed to be in the tens of thousands.

To prepare for the influx of pilgrims, officials have mobilized 50,000 people to serve the visitors.

About 35 Muslims died last year in a stampede while performing the symbolic stoning-of-the-devil ritual, which occurs toward the hajj’s end.