More than 1,300 deaths during Hajj due to intense heat, 83% of pilgrims unregistered: Saudi

Saudi Arabia:

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that more than 1,300 worshipers died during the hajj pilgrimage, which took place during intense heat, and that most of those who died did not have official authorization.

“Sadly, the death toll reached 1,301, with 83 percent not permitted to perform hajj and having walked long distances in direct sunlight without adequate shelter or comfort,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

An AFP calculation last week, based on official statements and reports from diplomats involved in their countries’ responses, put the count at more than 1,100.

The dead came from more than 10 countries, from the United States to Indonesia, and some governments continue to update their totals.

Arab diplomats told AFP last week that Egyptians were responsible for 658 deaths – 630 of them unregistered pilgrims.

Diplomats said the cause of death in most cases was heat-related.

Temperatures in Mecca this year have risen as high as 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Saudi Arabia’s national meteorological center.

Riyadh had not publicly commented on the deaths or provided its own count until Sunday.

On Friday, however, a senior Saudi official gave AFP a partial count of 577 deaths on the hajj’s two busiest days: June 15, when pilgrims gathered for hours of prayer under the scorching sun on Mount Arafat, and June 16, when they participated in the “stoning of the devil” ritual in Mina.

The official also defended Riyadh’s response, saying: “The State did not fail, but there was an error of judgment on the part of people who did not assess the risks.”

‘Heat stress’

Saudi Health Minister Fahd Al-Jalajel on Sunday described the management of this year’s hajj as “successful”, SPA reported.

He said the health system “provided more than 465,000 specialized treatment services, including 141,000 services for those who did not obtain official authorization to perform the hajj,” according to SPA, which summarized an interview he gave to state-run channel Al -Ekhbariya. .

Jalajel did not specify how many deaths Saudi authorities attributed to the heat.

“The health system has addressed numerous cases of heat stress this year, with some individuals still in care,” SPA reported.

“Among the deceased were several elderly people and people with chronic illnesses.”

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam that all Muslims with means must perform at least once in their lives.

Saudi officials said 1.8 million pilgrims participated this year, a similar number to last year, and that 1.6 million came from abroad.

In recent years, the mostly outdoor rituals have taken place during the scorching Saudi summer.

The hajj calendar moves forward by around 11 days a year in the Gregorian calendar, meaning that next year it will take place in early June, potentially in cooler conditions.

A 2019 study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters said that due to climate change, heat stress for hajj pilgrims will exceed the “extreme hazard threshold” from 2047 to 2052 and from 2079 to 2086, “with increasing frequency and intensity as as the century progresses.”

Hajj off the records

Hajj permits are allocated to countries on a quota system and distributed to individuals by lottery.

Even for those who are able to obtain them, the high costs lead many to attempt the hajj without authorization, although they risk arrest and deportation if caught.

Saudi authorities said before the hajj that they had expelled hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca.

But the Saudi official who spoke to AFP on Friday said that around 400,000 unregistered pilgrims participated and that “almost all of them (were) of one nationality”, an apparent reference to Egypt.

On Saturday, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly ordered the withdrawal of licenses from 16 tourism companies and referred their managers to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for illegal pilgrimages to Mecca, the Egyptian cabinet said.

He said the increase in the number of deaths of unregistered Egyptian pilgrims resulted from some companies “organizing hajj programs using a personal visit visa, which prevents its holders from entering Mecca” through official channels.

Unregistered pilgrims in many cases did not have access to amenities designed to make the pilgrimage more bearable, including air-conditioned tents.

Unregistered Egyptian pilgrims told AFP last week that in some cases they had difficulty accessing hospitals or calling ambulances for loved ones, some of whom ended up dying.

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