Saudi officials use AI, drones and thousands of cameras to keep hajj pilgrims safe

During the holy month of Ramadan this year, the system spotted when the Grand Mosque had reached full capacity.

Working day and night in front of maps, screens and seemingly endless data, Saudi officials have harnessed artificial intelligence to help manage the million-strong sea of pilgrims during the hajj.

The technology has proven pivotal to track the overwhelming amount of footage from more than 15,000 cameras in and around the holy city of Mecca.

The systems are tuned to spot abnormal crowd movements or predict bottlenecks in foot traffic: a potential life-saver at a packed event with a history of deadly stampedes.

Software is also used to help guide more than 20,000 buses deployed to transport pilgrims between holy sites during one of the world's biggest annual religious gatherings.

It is all part of the tech arsenal that Saudi Arabia is deploying as 1.4 million faithful from across the globe descend on Mecca and its surrounds.

"In our traffic control room, we use specialised cameras that have AI layers to analyse movements, crowded areas" and predict behaviours, said Mohamed Nazier, chief executive officer for the General Transport Centre at the Royal Commission for Mecca.

The centre has a main control room in Mecca filled with screens and maps, where staff use high-tech tools including AI for round-the-clock monitoring.