Hyderabad, May 26 -- More than 1.7 million Muslims gathered on the plains of Arafat on Tuesday, May 26, as Haj 1447 AH/2026 reached its spiritual climax amid intense heat, large-scale crowd management operations and heightened security across the holy sites.

In a statement posted on X, Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Statistics announced that the total number of pilgrims this year reached 1,707,301. Of them, 1,546,655 arrived from outside the Kingdom through air, land and sea ports, while 160,646 domestic pilgrims were citizens and residents.

Male pilgrims accounted for 893,396 of the total, while female pilgrims numbered 813,905. Most international pilgrims arrived by air, with 1,485,729 entering through airports, compared with 54...