More than 1.5m Muslims arrive in Mecca for annual Hajj pilgrimage

During the festivities, Muslim pilgrims must walk around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca (AP)

Muslim pilgrims have been streaming into Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca ahead of the start of the Hajj later this week, as the annual pilgrimage returns to its monumental scale.

Saudi officials say more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims had arrived in the country by Tuesday, the vast majority by air, from across the world.