The temperature in Mecca rose to 51.8 degrees Celsius this year (File)
Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that more than 1,300 worshipers died during the hajj pilgrimage that took place during intense heat and that most of those who died did not have official permits.
“Sadly, the number of deaths reached 1,301, with 83 percent unable to perform the hajj and having walked long distances in direct sunlight, without adequate shelter or comfort,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
An AFP count last week, based on official statements and reports from diplomats involved in their countries' responses, put the number at more than 1,100.
The deaths came from more than a dozen countries, ranging from the United States to Indonesia, and some governments continue to update their figures.
Arab diplomats told AFP last week that Egyptians were responsible for 658 deaths, of which 630 were unregistered pilgrims.
The diplomats said the cause of death was heat-related in most cases.
Temperatures in Mecca have reached 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) this year, 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 for the two busiest days of the hajj: June 15, when pilgrims gathered for hours for prayers in the blazing sun on Mount Arafat, and June 16, when they took part in the hajj. during the 'stoning of the devil' ritual in Mina.
The official also defended Riyadh's response, saying: “The state did not fail, but there was a misjudgment on the part of people who did not understand the risks.”
'Heat stress'
Saudi Health Minister Fahd Al-Jaljel called the management of this year's hajj “successful” on Sunday, SPA reported.
He said the health system provided “more than 465,000 specialized treatment services, including 141,000 services to those who had not received official permission to perform hajj,” according to SPA, which summarized an interview he gave to state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya -channel. .
Jalajel did not specify how many deaths Saudi officials attributed to the heat.
“The healthcare system has addressed numerous cases of heat stress this year, with some individuals still receiving treatment,” SPA reported.
“Among the deceased were several elderly and chronically ill.”
The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam that all Muslims who have the means must complete at least once in their lives.
Saudi officials have said that 1.8 million pilgrims took part this year, a similar number to last year, and that 1.6 million came from abroad.
In recent years, rituals have declined, especially outdoors during the sweltering Saudi summer.
The timing of the Hajj moves forward about 11 days in the Gregorian calendar each year, meaning it will take place earlier in June next year, possibly under cooler conditions.
A 2019 study from the journal Geophysical Research Letters states that due to climate change, heat stress for Hajj pilgrims will exceed the “extreme danger threshold” from 2047 to 2052 and from 2079 to 2086, “with increasing frequency and intensity as the century progresses.”
Hajj off the books
Hajj permits are allocated to countries with a quota system and distributed among individuals by drawing lots.
Even for those who can obtain them, the high cost prompts many to perform the hajj without a permit, although they risk arrest and deportation if caught.
Saudi authorities said before the hajj that they had removed hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca.
But the Saudi official who spoke to AFP on Friday said around 400,000 unregistered pilgrims took part, and that “almost all of them were of the same nationality”, an apparent reference to Egypt.
On Saturday, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly ordered 16 tourism companies to strip their licenses and refer their managers to the public prosecutor for illegal pilgrimages to Mecca, the Egyptian cabinet said.
It said the increase in deaths among unregistered Egyptian pilgrims stemmed from a number of companies “organizing the hajj programs using personal visit visas, preventing its holders from entering Mecca” through official channels.
Unregistered pilgrims in many cases lacked access to facilities designed to make the pilgrimage more bearable, including air-conditioned tents.
Unregistered Egyptian pilgrims told AFP last week that in some cases they struggled to access hospitals or call ambulances for loved ones, some of whom ultimately died.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
