Fewer pilgrims, less crowd risk at Hajj's symbolic stoning of the devil

JAMARAT, Saudi Arabia: Restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia have also reduced the risk of the deadly crowd crushes that have marred the pilgrimage's symbolic stoning of the devil in past years, worshippers said on Tuesday.

Before the pandemic, the annual Hajj rite typically drew more than two million Muslim faithful from around the world, with crowding regularly leading to dangerous incidents, most recently a 2015 stampede that killed hundreds. But only a limited number of mask-clad pilgrims hurled pebbles at a wall in a symbolic renunciation of the devil - historically the Hajj's riskiest ceremony - during Tuesday's Eid al-Adha.