Over 900 pilgrims have died, and thousands are being treated for heatstroke as they undertake the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, where temperatures have soared above 51 degrees Celsius (123.8 Fahrenheit). According to various news reports, the death toll has reached 922, with the count expected to rise.
The fatalities include 41 Jordanians, 35 Tunisians, and 11 Iranians, with more than 600 Egyptians reported dead, according to AFP. A Saudi Arabian diplomat revealed that 68 Indian nationals have also died, though some may have succumbed to natural causes given the number of elderly participants. The Saudi and Egyptian authorities have yet to release official figures.
This year’s Hajj, an obligatory pilgrimage for physically and financially capable Muslims, has drawn approximately 1.8 million participants from around the globe. Held in June, one of the hottest months in the region, the pilgrimage’s timing has exacerbated the risks, with many rituals performed outdoors.
In response to the extreme heat, Saudi Arabia advised pilgrims to avoid the traditional ‘stoning the devil’ ritual. On June 16 alone, more than 2,700 cases of heat exhaustion were reported. The Saudi government has invested billions in crowd control and safety measures, but the sheer volume of pilgrims presents ongoing challenges.
Relatives of missing pilgrims are scouring hospitals and using social media to seek information. Temperatures in Mecca peaked at 51.8 degrees Celsius (125.2 Fahrenheit) on June 17, compounding the dangers for the predominantly elderly and infirm participants.
Among the missing is Mabrouka bint Salem Shushana, a Tunisian woman in her early 70s. Her husband, Mohammed, reported that she could not access air-conditioned facilities due to her unregistered status. “She’s an old lady. She was tired. She was feeling so hot, and she had no place to sleep,” he said, describing his desperate search through local hospitals.
Ghada Mahmoud Ahmed Dawood, an Egyptian pilgrim, has been unaccounted for since June 15. Through a friend in Saudi Arabia, her family has been pleading for information on social media. “The good news is that until now we did not find her on the list of the dead people, which gives us hope she is still alive,” the friend stated.
The pilgrimage, which moves with the Islamic lunar calendar, has increasingly fallen during the intense Saudi summer in recent years. A recent Saudi study noted a rise in regional temperatures by 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.72 degrees Fahrenheit) each decade. An MIT study predicted that even with climate mitigation efforts, Hajj temperatures would exceed an “extreme danger threshold” from 2047 to 2052 and 2079 to 2086.
Historically, deaths during Hajj are not uncommon due to various causes such as stampedes, tent fires, and other accidents. In 2015, a stampede in Mina resulted in over 2,400 deaths, the deadliest incident in Hajj history. The second-deadliest occurred in 1990, with a stampede claiming 1,426 lives.
Despite the tragedies, the Hajj remains a cornerstone of the Islamic faith, with millions of Muslims undertaking the journey as one of the five pillars of Islam. As temperatures rise and the number of participants grows, ensuring the safety of pilgrims continues to be a paramount concern for Saudi authorities.
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