Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The delegation of European Union to Saudi Arabia and Gulf was briefed about safety measures by Saudi Civil Defense authorities during Haj season. The delegation was led by Michele Cervone D’Urso, ambassador to EU, who called on Civil Defense Director General Maj. Gen. Sulaiman Bin Abdullah Al Amro on Wednesday at Civil Defense headquarters in Riyadh.

Maj. Gen. Al Amro briefed the European Union delegation on Civil Defense mechanism of general emergency plan that includes preventive measures, rescue operation methods, according to a statement issued by the Civil Defense directorate.

The top brass of Civil Defense emphasized upon the delegation that all government agencies participating in Haj are determined to maintain the highest safety standards for pilgrims with the single aim of following the directives of the government of Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Salman.

The statement said that European Union delegation appreciated the safety mechanism adopted by Civil Defense officials during Haj. The visiting delegation also hailed the preventive measures adopted by Civil Defense officials to provide safety for the pilgrims, it said.

The delegation that constituted diplomats and safety consultants from European Union countries also held a question and answer session with Civil Defense officials. They were shown a visual presentation with statistics and operational plans.

Last year, 193,762 pilgrims from 28 European nations, Turkey, Europe, America and Australia performed Haj, among them the majority of them hailing from Turkey, with 25,200 pilgrims from Britain and 23,700 from Russia. France sent 21,200 pilgrims and Germany 11,000.

The number of pilgrims from Turkey, Europe, America and Australia this year is put at 193,762 pilgrims belonging to 28 nationalities, according to a report.

The highest number of 80,000 pilgrims came from Turkey while the lowest number of 50 pilgrims came from Ukraine this year, the report said.