Meet first Hajj pilgrim in history of São Tomé and Príncipe arriving in Mecca

This year's Hajj season welcomed the first pilgrim to arrive in Mecca from the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, two islands in the Atlantic Ocean with about 200 Muslim citizens.

In a video published by the Saudi Ministry of Information, the pilgrim - named as Hajj Adam - said: “The number of Muslims is around 200. Last year and this year, I am the only pilgrim coming from São Tomé and Príncipe to perform Hajj.”

The pilgrim, who works as a teacher, added that his journey from São Tomé to Mecca took 13 hours, from Portugal’s Lisbon International airport to Turkey’s Istanbul and then to Jeddah and from there to Mecca.

Hajj Adam said that he gave a farewell speech to his students, asking them to concentrate on their studies and wishing them to be able to perform Hajj in the coming years, while social media users shared the video widely.