Muslim pilgrims used the early morning hours of Monday to perform the second day of the symbolic stoning of the devil as noontime summer heat led to heatstroke among thousands concluding the Hajj pilgrimage.

The final days of the Hajj coincide with Muslims worldwide celebrating the Eid al-Adha holiday.

The stoning ritual, which involves casting pebbles at pillars representing the devil, occurs in Mina, a desert plain just outside Mecca in Saudi Arabia. A third stoning is scheduled for Tuesday, followed by the Farewell Tawaf, or circling of the cube-shaped Kaaba in Mecca.

The Hajj pilgrimage is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. All Muslims are required to make the five-day Hajj at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able.

More than 1.83 million Muslims performed Hajj in 2024, slightly fewer than the previous year's figure of 1.84 million, according to Saudi officials.

The rites largely commemorate the Quran's accounts of Prophet Ibrahim, his son Prophet Ismail and Ismail's mother, Hajar. The rites have taken place under soaring summer heat, which is expected to reach 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) in Mecca and surrounding areas, according to the Saudi National Center for Metrology.

More than 2,760 pilgrims suffered from sunstroke and heat stress on Sunday alone at the start of the first round of stoning, according to the Health Ministry. Jordan announced Sunday that 14 Jordanian pilgrims died from heatstroke during the Hajj.

The number of pilgrims on the roads leading to the pillars on Monday morning decreased significantly compared with Sunday's rites. Security forces, medics and first responders have been deployed in and around Mina, especially on roads and open areas, to help pilgrims.

"I am really impressed by the preparations," said Sani Abdullah, a Nigerian pilgrim. "I have never encountered any problems. Everything is going smoothly."

Mina is where Muslims believe Ibrahim's faith was tested when God commanded him to sacrifice his only son, Ismail. Ibrahim was prepared to submit to the command, but God spared his son. In the Christian and Jewish versions of the story, Abraham is ordered to kill his other son, Isaac.

The stoning began Sunday, a day after the pilgrims visited the sacred Mount Arafat, where they spent their day in worship and reflection. The ritual in Mount Arafat, known as the Hill of Mercy, is considered the peak of the Hajj pilgrimage.

The pilgrims collected the pebbles they used in the symbolic stoning of pillars from Muzdalifa, an area located a few kilometers from Mount Arafat.

The rituals officially started Friday when the pilgrims moved from Mecca's Grand Mosque to Mina, then to Mount Arafat. They then returned to Mina, where they spent up to three days, each casting seven pebbles at three pillars in a ritual to symbolize the casting away of evil and sin.

While in Mina, the pilgrims visited Mecca to perform a "tawaf," or circumambulation, which is circling the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque counterclockwise seven times. Then, another circumambulation, the Farewell Tawaf, marked the end of the Hajj as pilgrims prepared to leave the holy city.

Once the Hajj was over, men were expected to shave their heads, and women were expected to snip a lock of hair as a sign of renewal.

Most of the pilgrims then left Mecca for the city of Medina, about 340 kilometers away, to pray in Prophet Muhammad's tomb, the Sacred Chamber, part of the prophet's mosque, one of the three holiest sites in Islam, along with the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

This year's Hajj came against the backdrop of the devastating Israeli attacks on Gaza, which pushed the Middle East to the brink of a regional conflict.

The war has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians in the besieged strip, according to Gaza health officials, while hundreds of others have been killed in Israeli operations in the West Bank.

It began following Hamas' Oct. 7 incursion on southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were not able to travel to Mecca for the Hajj this year because of the closure of the Rafah crossing in May when Israel extended its ground offensive to the city on the border with Egypt.