Saudi Arabia to introduce high-tech bracelets in haj safety push

Muslims pray and gather around the holy Kaaba at the Grand Mosque during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, June 8, 2016. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia will introduce electronic identification bracelets for all pilgrims to Mecca starting this year, Saudi media said, as part of a safety drive a year after the annual Islamic rite suffered its deadliest disaster in a generation. 

As many as 2,070 people died in a crush when thousands of pilgrims converged on a walkway intersection near the Muslim holy city of Mecca last September, according to a Reuters count, the highest loss of life at the annual pilgrimage since 1990.