Mecca, SAUDI ARABIA (Al Arabiya)
More bodies have been recovered in the western Saudi city of Jeddah, gateway for Muslim pilgrims headed to Mecca, pushing the death toll from Wednesday's flash flood to 83, reports said on Friday.
Al-Watan and Okaz newspapers said the toll had risen to 83, nearly all of them in Jeddah, after the Red Sea port was hit by a torrential downpour that sparked what observers said looked like a tidal wave when it struck the city.
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Traffic during the rain storm in Jeddah
Al-Hayat said 84 had died.
Officials said none of the dead were pilgrims for the Hajj, which was underway in Mecca 80 kilometers (50 miles) away.
The Presidency of Meteorology & Environment, Saudi Arabia's meteorology and environmental protection agency, warned citizens of Saudi Arabia that floods could strike the same cities on Friday causing similar damage to yesterday's downpour disaster, said an Al Arabiya reporter.
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Jamarat
Muslim pilgrims gather to perform the "Jamarat" ritual
Meanwhile, pilgrims pelted pillars symbolizing the devil with pebbles to show their defiance on the third day of the Hajj on Friday as Muslims worldwide marked the Eid al-Adha holy day with mass animal sacrifices.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims filed by the three jamarat pillars in Mina tossing stones to mark Abraham's three rejections of the devil's attempts to persuade him to ignore God's instructions to sacrifice his son Ishmael as related in the Quran.
The stoning was orderly during the night and early morning Friday, as Saudi authorities hoped enlarged pillars and a newly-built five storey pilgrim walkway would avert the deadly stampedes of previous years caused by the crush of the faithful as they jammed into the area for the required ritual.
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Sacrifice
The stoning is followed by the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of head of livestock, also rooted in the Quranic account.
As Abraham fended off the devil and moved toward fulfilling the command to kill Ishmael, an angel intervened and revoked the command, supplying Abraham instead with a ram to sacrifice.
Muslims around the world ritually kill goats, sheep and cattle on this day to commemorate Abraham's obedience to God and Ishmael's reprieve.
(With Agencies)
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