This year’s pilgrimage, attended by more than 1.8 million people, was under tight logistical planning and safety precautions designed to manage the intense heat and large crowds

Pilgrims were set to perform the last major ritual of the hajj -- the "stoning of the devil" -- on Friday, as Muslims around the globe celebrated the beginning of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Large numbers of Muslims converge once a year on Saudi Arabia to unite in a series of religious rituals and acts of worship as they perform the Hajj, the pilgrimage that is one of the pillars of Islam.