Cairo: Around 60,000 Saudi and expatriate Muslims representing 150 countries have been selected to perform this year’s curtailed Hajj, Saudi authorities have disclosed.
Last month, Saudi Arabia said that due to the continuation of COVID-19 and its variants, performing this year’s Hajj will be confined to 60,000 pilgrims from Saudis and Muslim foreign residents in the kingdom.
Eligible pilgrims must be vaccinated against COVID-19, free of chronic diseases and aged between 18 to 65 years.
The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has said it has issued the Hajj permits for 60,000 pilgrims who have met health and regulatory conditions.
They were selected from among a total of 558,270 Muslims who had applied online for attending this year’s Hajj, Deputy Minister of Hajj Abdulfattah Al Mashat was quoted by Okaz newspaper as saying.