More than 300 Egyptian pilgrims die on Hajj, most because of heat: diplomats

Jerusalem:

Diplomats said on Tuesday that at least 550 pilgrims had died during the hajj, underscoring the grueling nature of the pilgrimage, which again took place in scorching temperatures this year.

At least 323 of those who died were Egyptians, most of them succumbing to heat-related illnesses, two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries’ responses told AFP.

“All of them (the Egyptians) died because of the heat” except one who suffered fatal injuries during a small crowd, one of the diplomats said, adding that the total number came from the hospital morgue in Mecca’s Al-Muaisem neighborhood.

At least 60 Jordanians also died, diplomats said, up from the official toll of 41 released Tuesday by Amman.

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

Diplomats said the total at Al-Muaisem morgue, one of the largest in Mecca, was 550.

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims with 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 the rituals are performed rise by 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.72 degrees Fahrenheit) every decade.

Temperatures reached 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) in the Grand Mosque of Mecca on Monday, the Saudi national meteorological center said.

– Heat stress –

Earlier on Tuesday, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said Cairo was collaborating with Saudi authorities in search operations for Egyptians missing during the hajj.

Although a ministry statement said “a certain number of deaths” had occurred, it did not specify whether Egyptians were among them.

Saudi authorities have reported treating more than 2,000 pilgrims suffering from heat stress, but have not updated that number since Sunday and have not provided information on deaths.

At least 240 pilgrims were killed in several countries last year, most of them Indonesians.

AFP journalists in Mina, on the outskirts of Mecca, on Monday saw pilgrims pouring bottles of water over their heads as volunteers handed out cold drinks and quick-melting chocolate ice cream to help them cool off.

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

But many of the hajj rituals, including the prayers on Mount Arafat that took place on Saturday, involve spending hours outdoors during the day.

Some pilgrims described seeing motionless bodies on the side of the road and ambulance services that sometimes appeared overwhelmed.

Some 1.8 million pilgrims took part in the hajj this year, 1.6 million of them from abroad, according to Saudi officials.

– Unregistered pilgrims –

Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform hajj through irregular channels as they cannot afford the often expensive procedures to obtain official hajj visas.

This puts these illegal pilgrims at risk as they cannot access air-conditioned facilities provided by Saudi authorities along the Hajj route.

One of the diplomats who spoke to AFP on Tuesday said Egypt’s death count was “absolutely” driven by large numbers of unregistered Egyptian pilgrims.

“Irregular pilgrims have caused great chaos in Egyptian pilgrim camps, causing services to collapse,” said an Egyptian official who oversees the country’s hajj mission.

“The pilgrims were left without food, water and air conditioning for a long time.”

They died “from the heat because most people had nowhere” to shelter.

Earlier this month, Saudi authorities said they had expelled hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca ahead of the hajj.

Other countries that have reported deaths during this year’s hajj include Indonesia, Iran and Senegal.

Most countries did not specify 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”, avoiding major disease outbreaks and other threats to public health, the Health Agency reported. Official Saudi Press.

Health authorities “provided virtual consultations to more than 5,800 pilgrims, primarily for heat-related illnesses, enabling immediate intervention and mitigating the potential for an increase in cases,” the SPA said.

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