Simulation of Crowd in the Corridor of Ziara in Masjid-e-Nabwi, Madinah

Abstract

Visitors to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and Umrah from around the globe are constantly increasing with each passing year and hence visitors to the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W)’s mosque, in Madina Munawara are also increasing. This paper investigates numerically the corridor of Ziara Place which is the most congestion place in the mosque. In order to improve crowd management and minimise the occurrence of emergency situations or hazardous conditions necessary arrangements e.g. decreasing the waiting time, avoiding barriers, controlling the crowd size and optimising the queuing process, are suggested. Certain simulation scenarios are studied in helping to reduce the risk of people colliding into each other, as well as helping to reduce long waiting times in this particular area. Visitor’s behaviour, crowd density, and crowd flow around the Prophet (S.A.W)’s grave is analysed for varying crowd densities.