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The World This Week: Managing the Crowds at Mecca

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The almost unsolvable problem of safely managing the crowds at Mecca

26/09/2015 GMT

Managing the Crowds at Mecca

BBC World Service - The World This Week, Managing the Crowds at Mecca

Why it's hard to safely control the millions of people at the Hajj in Mecca

Why it's hard to safely control the millions of people at the Hajj in Mecca.

Millions of people go to Mecca on the Hajj every year, and the Saudi authorities have spent billions trying to keep them safe.  But as this week's deaths have shown, it is hard to keep them safe. A crowd control expert explains the problems facing the Saudi authorities. Also, why some European states feel bullied by their more important neighbours; why we could be facing the near-death of diesel cars; the king who talked a coup leader into standing down; and at last from Colombia - a real prospect of an end to decades of civil war.

(Photo: Pilgrims at the Hajj Credit: AP

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