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

Tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims clambered up rocks and nestled between boulders on Thursday as they embarked on a day of worship under a scorching sun at the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

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.