Almost 10 Million Pilgrims Gather To Pray In Basilica De Guadaloupe In Mexico City - Gov't

MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2019) Close to 10 million pilgrims arrived at Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the Tepeyac hill in Mexico City to revere the 488th anniversary of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the most worshiped shrine in Latin America, David Leon Romero, national coordinator of Civil Protection of Mexico, said on Thursday.

"By 7 a.m. [13:00 GMT] on Thursday, 9.8 million people were registered in the atrium [of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe," Romero said at a press conference.

According to the official, incidents since the influx of pilgrims so far included one fatality due to natural reasons, four complaints of robbery filed with the police, and 7,000 instances of people requesting medical assistance.

The history of Virgin of Guadalupe, also known as the Dark Virgin, dates back to December 12, 1531, when she first appeared to Juan Diego, an indigenous of Cuautitlan municipality. A church was built near where it happened and a cloak with the Virgin's image is stored there. Hundreds of thousands from Latin America and beyond gather to worship the shrine every year.