Crowd Evacuation in Hajj Stoning Area: Planning through Modeling and Simulation

Heba Kurdi, Amal Alzuhair, Dana Alotaibi, Hesah Alsweed, Noor Almoqayyad, Razan Albaqami, Alhanoof Althnian, Najla Alnabhan and A. B. M. Alim Al Islam
Additional contact information
Heba Kurdi: Computer Science Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Amal Alzuhair: Computer Science Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Dana Alotaibi: Computer Science Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Hesah Alsweed: Computer Science Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Noor Almoqayyad: Computer Science Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Razan Albaqami: Computer Science Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Alhanoof Althnian: Information Technology Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Najla Alnabhan: Computer Science Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
A. B. M. Alim Al Islam: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-18

Abstract: Pilgrimage is one of the largest mass gatherings, where millions of Muslims gather annually from all over the world to perform Hajj. The stoning ritual during Hajj has been historically vulnerable to serious disasters that often cause severe impacts ranging from injuries to death tolls. In efforts to minimize the number and extent of the disasters, the stoning area has been expanded recently. However, no research has been carried out to study the evacuation effectiveness of the current exit placements in the area, which lies at the heart of effective minimization of the number and extent of the disasters. Therefore, this paper presents an in-depth study on emergency evacuation planning for the extended stoning area. It presents a simulation model of the expanded stoning area with the current exit placement. In addition, we suggested and examined four different exit placements considering evacuation scenarios in case of no hazard as well as two realistic hazard scenarios covering fire and bomb hazards. The simulation studied three stoning phases, beginning of stoning, during the peak hour of stoning, and ending of stoning at three scales of population sizes. The performance was measured in the light of evacuation time, percentage of evacuees, and percentage of crowd at each exit. The experimental results revealed that the current exits are not optimally positioned, and evacuation can be significantly improved through introducing a few more exits, or even through changing positions of the current ones.

Keywords: facilities planning and design; decision support; crowd planning; evacuation; simulation; pilgrimage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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