Evaluating Emergency Evacuation Procedures during Hajj Pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Hajj is one of the largest mass gatherings globally held annually. It invites over two million pilgrims from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. An effective crowd safety and evacuation design is deemed relevant and should align with the logistical and behavioral challenges unique to the ritual sites. This professional paper looks at emergency evacuation procedures adopted during the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. The research aimed to evaluate the current evacuation protocols, identify limitations, and suggest actionable strategies to prove safety at the pilgrim events. The study a post-positivist philosophical lens and employed a systematic literature review under the PRISMA framework. 27 scholarly sources were identified and analysed thematically. The findings show that Saudi authorities have implemented major structural and technological advances. However, the findings identify critical vulnerabilities persistent in the case of Hajj. Limitations emerging from the review are behavioral noncompliance, communication barriers and command structures that are over-centralized. The effectiveness of evacuation is also limited by technology over dependent systems. Cross-thematic analysis revealed the need for integrated, adaptive systems to take into account technical and human factors. The study serves a basis for theory development and practice improvement where emergency evacuation is framed as a socio-technical challenge that needs planning informed by behaviours as well as multilingual communication and localized decision-making authority.