2.5m Pilgrims defy hot weather, ascend Mount Arafat for hajj rites in Mecca

Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims crowded Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat today, as more than 2.5 million pilgrims were expected to join the hajj,

As dawn broke, groups of worshippers recited Quran verses on the rocky rise, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have given his final sermon.

The ritual is the high point of the annual pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, that officials say could be the biggest on record after three years of Covid-19 restrictions.