Rain and swine flu fears hit Haj

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Muslim pilgrims circled Islam's holiest site in their traditional white robes, with a few additions - umbrellas and face masks - as the opening of the annual Haj was complicated by torrential rains and fears of swine flu.

Saudi authorities have been planning ways for months to inhibit the spread of swine flu during the pilgrimage, which is seen as an incubator for the virus.

The four-day event, which started yesterday, is one of the most crowded in the world, with more than three million people from every corner of the globe packed shoulder to
shoulder in prayers and rites.

Now they are scrambling to deal with sudden, unexpected downpours that could worsen one of the gathering's perennial dangers: deadly stampedes.

In 2006, all it took was a dropped piece of luggage to trip up a crowd and cause a pileup that killed more than 360 people at one of the holy sites. The rains also could cause
flash floods or mudslides in the desert mountains where most of the rites take place.

The only fallout from the rains yesterday were epic traffic jams, flooded tents and washed out streets as the faithful tried to make their way to the Kaaba in Mecca. To kick off the hajj, Muslims circle seven times around the cube-shaped shrine draped in black cloth.