Saudi winner of 1 mln riyals hajj crowd management prize plugs gap in use of big data and AI
In 2015, a deadly stampede killed at least 717 hajj pilgrims and injured hundreds more. The incident happened as pilgrims were performing the symbolic stoning of the devil at the jamarat in Mina, just outside Makkah. In that year, 1.95 million Muslims were in Saudi Arabia to perform the hajj.
Controlling a crowd of millions performing religious rituals in the same place at the same time is one of Saudi Arabia’s key responsibilities for the hajj. This is currently done manually, with officials using their eyes to monitor crowds, keep people separated and observe signs that may lead to congestion.
But for all their training and experience, these crowd managers would not have time to react if they detect distress signals a couple of minutes before an incident could potentially erupt.
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