Three million Muslims begin hajj pilgrimage

Nearly three million Muslims from around the world, chanting “I am here, Lord” and raising their hands to heaven, marched through a desert valley outside Mecca in Saudi Arabia today on the first day of the annual hajj pilgrimage.

Dressed in seamless white robes symbolising the equality of mankind under God, the pilgrims hiked through the eight-mile valley to Mina, starting a series of rituals in which they cleanse themselves of sin.