At least 550 people die of extreme heat on Muslim pilgrimage, reports say
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
A Muslim pilgrim pours water on his head to cool down from the heat, in Mina, Saudi Arabia, on June 17.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
RIYADH/MINA - Hundreds of visitors have died during the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca
At least 550 people have died on haj, diplomats told French outlet Agence France Presse (AFP) on June 18. Three hundred and twenty-three of the dead were Egyptians, most of whom perished due to heat-related illness, AFP reported, citing two Arab diplomats.
Reuters was not able to immediately verify those numbers.
Stampedes, tent fires and other accidents have caused hundreds of deaths during haj to Saudi Arabia in the past 30 years. The pilgrimage began on June 14.
Saudi state TV said temperatures rose on Monday as high as 51.8 deg C in the shade at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
A 2024 study by the Journal of Travel and Medicine found that rising global temperatures may outpace strategies to deal with the heat. A 2019 study by Geophysical Research Letters said that as temperatures rise in arid Saudi Arabia due to climate change, pilgrims performing haj will face “extreme danger”.
Thirty-five Tunisian citizens have died during the haj, Tunisian news agency Tunis Afrique Presse said on June 18.
Many of those deaths were due to extreme heat, family members said on social media, as other families continued to search for missing relatives in Saudi hospitals.
The Jordanian foreign ministry said it had issued 41 burial permits for Jordanian pilgrims on June 18. Earlier, the ministry said at least six Jordanian citizens died of heat stroke during the haj.
Eleven Iranians have died and 24 were hospitalised during the pilgrimage, Iranian state news outlet IRINN said on June 18 without giving the causes of death.
Three Senegalese citizens also died during haj, Agence de Presse Sénégalaise, said on June 17.
One hundred and forty-four Indonesian citizens died during the pilgrimage, Indonesian health ministry data showed on June 18. The data did not specify if any of the deaths were due to heat stroke.
The haj is an annual pilgrimage that millions of Muslims make to Mecca to perform religious rites as taught by the Prophet Mohammad to his followers 14 centuries ago.
A Saudi health official, speaking to Reuters on June 17, before many of the reports of deaths were issued, said that authorities had not noticed any unusual fatalities among Muslim pilgrims amid the extremely high temperatures.
A child is pushed in a stroller during extremely hot weather, during the annual haj pilgrimage, in Mina, Saudi Arabia.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The ministry had so far treated more than 2,700 pilgrims who suffered from heat-related illness, he added.
“Haj is a difficult task, so you have to exert efforts and perform the rituals even in the conditions of heat and crowding,” an Egyptian pilgrim told Reuters on June 16.
Pilgrims used umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun, as Saudi authorities warned pilgrims to stay hydrated and avoid being outdoors during the hottest hours between 11 am and 3 pm local time.
Haj, one of the largest mass gatherings in the world, is a once-in-a-lifetime duty for able-bodied Muslims who can afford it. It will end on June 19.
More than 1.8 million pilgrims were expected to take part this year, according to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics. REUTERS
