The Kingdom this year has issued Haj pilgrims with identification bracelets.

The bracelets are a reassurance to pilgrims who often get separated from their group or dear ones. Their distribution, however, has been far from systematic ahead of the formal start of the Haj on Saturday.

After last year’s deadly stampede, changes have been made to prevent overcrowding at specific locations.

Each plastic bracelet carries a bar code readable by smartphone. It indicates the pilgrim’s identity, nationality and place of lodging in Makkah.

Additional data includes a contact in the pilgrim’s delegation and details provided when his or her visa was issued, the vice secretary of the Ministry of Haj and Umrah, Issa Rawas, said.

“The aim is to equip all pilgrims” from abroad, who are expected to number more than 1.4 million, he said.

Rawas did not specify the number of bracelets issued so far.

Numerous pilgrims around the Grand Mosque were seen wearing bracelets. But some were issued by travel agents and don’t include the information stored in the government-issued bracelets.

Nabil Melhem, 61, a Palestinian bricklayer, wears one of the official bracelets, which he said cost about SR2. It is “like a passport,” said Melhem, from the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The bracelet is two centimeters (almost an inch) wide and coloured green for pilgrims from Arab countries.

“If we get lost, if we die, if we are sick or unable to talk, they can contact our delegation, thanks to the bracelet,” he said.

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