Saudi Arabia to allow one million pilgrims for Haj this year
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Saturday announced that it will allow one million Haj pilgrims from inside and outside of the kingdom to perform Haj this year.
The Ministry of Haj and Umrah “has authorised one million pilgrims, both foreign and domestic, to perform the hajj this year,” it said in a statement.
It is "open to those who are under 65 years old and have received the main Covid-19 vaccinations approved by the Saudi Ministry of Health," Saturday’s statement said.
A particular number of pilgrims from each specific country will be allowed to make the pilgrimage based on allocated quotas.
Those coming from outside Saudi Arabia will be required to submit a negative Covid-19 PCR result from a test taken within 72 hours of travel.
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Tsunami alert after a volcano in Indonesia has several big eruptions and thousands are told to leave
Jakarta, Apr 17: Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami alert Wednesday after eruptions at Ruang mountain sent ash thousands of feet high. Officials ordered more than 11,000 people to leave the area.
The volcano on the northern side of Sulawesi island had at least five large eruptions in the past 24 hours, Indonesia's Centre for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation said. Authorities raised their volcano alert to its highest level.
At least 800 residents left the area earlier Wednesday.
Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, has 120 active volcanoes. It is prone to volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.
Authorities urged tourists and others to stay at least 6 km (3.7 miles) from the 725-metre (2,378 foot) Ruang volcano.
Officials worry that part of the volcano could collapse into the sea and cause a tsunami as in a 1871 eruption there.
Tagulandang island to the volcano's northeast is again at risk, and its residents are among those being told to evacuate.
Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency said residents will be relocated to Manado, the nearest city, on Sulawesi island, a journey of six hours by boat.
In 2018, the eruption of Indonesia's Anak Krakatau volcano caused a tsunami along the coasts of Sumatra and Java after parts of the mountain fell into the ocean, killing 430 people.
