Over 550 Hajj Pilgrims Die in Mecca Amid 50°C Heat

In a tragic event, more than 550 Hajj pilgrims in Mecca have died due to extreme heat, with temperatures soaring above 50°C. This incident highlights the severe risks associated with such intense weather conditions, raising concerns about the safety and well-being of pilgrims during the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The high death toll underscores the urgent need for measures to protect pilgrims from extreme temperatures in the future.

According to diplomats, at least 60 Jordanians have also perished. This number is an increase from the official count of 41 reported earlier on Tuesday by Amman.

Boston Brand Media discovered the trending news - On Tuesday, diplomats reported that at least 550 pilgrims died during the Hajj, highlighting the arduous nature of the pilgrimage, which occurred once more under extreme heat. Among the deceased, at least 323 were Egyptians, with the majority succumbing to heat-related illnesses, according to two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries' responses, as told to AFP.

"All of them (the Egyptians) died because of heat," except for one who suffered fatal injuries in a minor crowd crush, one of the diplomats stated. He added that the total figure was confirmed by the hospital morgue in the Al-Muaisem neighborhood of Mecca.

More Than 550 Hajj Pilgrims Die In Mecca As Temperatures Exceed 50 Degrees

The new deaths bring the total reported so far by multiple countries to 577, according to an AFP tally.

Jerusalem: Diplomats on Tuesday reported that at least 550 pilgrims died during the Hajj, underscoring the grueling nature of the pilgrimage, which this year again unfolded in scorching temperatures. At least 323 of those who died were Egyptians, most of them succumbing to heat-related illnesses, according to two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries' responses, as told to AFP.

"All of them (the Egyptians) died because of heat," except for one who sustained fatal injuries during a minor crowd crush, one of the diplomats stated, adding that the total figure came from the hospital morgue in the Al-Muaisem neighborhood of Mecca.

At least 60 Jordanians also died, the diplomats said, up from an official tally of 41 given earlier on Tuesday by Amman.

The new deaths bring the total reported so far by multiple countries to 577, according to an AFP tally.

The diplomats said the total at the morgue in Al-Muaisem, one of the biggest in Mecca, was 550.

The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and all Muslims with the means must complete it at least once.

The pilgrimage is increasingly affected by climate change, according to a Saudi study published last month that said temperatures in the area where rituals are performed were rising 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.72 degrees Fahrenheit) each decade.

Boston Brand Media also found that Temperatures hit 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) at the Grand Mosque in Mecca on Monday, the Saudi national meteorology center said.

Heat stress

Earlier on Tuesday, Egypt's foreign ministry announced that Cairo was working with Saudi authorities on search operations for Egyptians who had gone missing during the Hajj.

A ministry statement acknowledged "a certain number of deaths" but did not clarify whether any Egyptians were among the deceased.

Saudi authorities have reported treating more than 2,000 pilgrims for heat stress but have not updated this figure since Sunday and have not provided information on fatalities.

Last year, at least 240 pilgrims were reported dead by various countries, most of them Indonesians.

AFP journalists in Mina, near Mecca, on Monday saw pilgrims pouring bottles of water over their heads as volunteers distributed cold drinks and rapidly melting chocolate ice cream to help them stay cool.

Saudi officials had advised pilgrims to use umbrellas, drink plenty of water, and avoid exposure to the sun during the hottest hours of the day.

However, many Hajj rituals, including the prayers on Mount Arafat on Saturday, require being outdoors for hours in the daytime. Some pilgrims reported seeing motionless bodies on the roadside and ambulance services that seemed overwhelmed at times. Around 1.8 million pilgrims participated in the Hajj this year, with 1.6 million coming from abroad, according to Saudi authorities.

Unregistered pilgrims

Each year, tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform the Hajj through irregular channels because they cannot afford the often costly procedures for official Hajj visas.

This places these off-the-books pilgrims at risk, as they cannot access the air-conditioned facilities provided by Saudi authorities along the Hajj route. One of the diplomats who spoke to AFP on Tuesday stated that the Egyptian death toll was "absolutely" increased by the large number of unregistered Egyptian pilgrims.

"Irregular pilgrims caused great chaos in the Egyptian pilgrims' camps, leading to the collapse of services," said an Egyptian official overseeing the country's Hajj mission.

"The pilgrims went without food, water, or air conditioning for a long time." They died "from the heat because most people had no place" to take shelter. Earlier this month, Saudi officials announced that they had cleared hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca ahead of the Hajj.

Other countries reporting deaths during the Hajj this year include Indonesia, Iran, and Senegal.

Most countries have not specified how many deaths were heat-related.

Saudi Health Minister Fahd bin Abdul Rahman Al-Jalajel said on Tuesday that health plans for the Hajj had "been successfully carried out," preventing major outbreaks of disease and other public health threats, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Health officials "provided virtual consultations to over 5,800 pilgrims, primarily for heat-related illnesses, enabling prompt intervention and mitigating the potential for a surge in cases," the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

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Source: NDTV‍