The new deaths bring the total reported so far by multiple countries to 577, according to an AFP tally.
Jerusalem:
Diplomats said on Tuesday that at least 550 pilgrims died during the hajj, underscoring the grueling nature of the pilgrimage, which again took place this year in scorching temperatures.
At least 323 of the dead were Egyptians, most of whom succumbed to heat-related illnesses, two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries' responses told AFP.
“They (the Egyptians) all died from the heat,” except one who suffered fatal injuries during a small crowd jostling, one of the diplomats said, adding that the total number came from the hospital mortuary in Al district -Muaisem in Mecca.
At least 60 Jordanians also died, the diplomats said, compared with an official figure of 41 given by Amman earlier on Tuesday.
The new deaths bring the total reported so far by multiple countries to 577, according to an AFP tally.
The diplomats said the total at the mortuary in Al-Muaisem, one of the largest in Mecca, was 550.
The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims who have the means must complete it at least once.
The pilgrimage is increasingly affected by climate change, according to a Saudi study published last month that shows temperatures in the area where rituals are performed are rising by 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.72 degrees Fahrenheit) every decade.
The temperature at the Grand Mosque in Mecca reached 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) on Monday, the Saudi National Meteorology Center said.
– Heat stress –
Earlier on Tuesday, Egypt's Foreign Ministry said Cairo was cooperating with Saudi authorities in search operations for Egyptians who went missing during the Hajj.
While a ministry statement said there had been “a certain number of deaths,” it did not specify whether they included Egyptians.
Saudi authorities have reported treating more than 2,000 pilgrims suffering from heat stress, but have not updated that figure since Sunday and provided no information on fatalities.
Last year, at least 240 pilgrims, most of them Indonesians, were reported dead by various countries.
AFP journalists in Mina, outside Mecca, on Monday saw pilgrims pouring bottles of water over their heads as volunteers handed out cold drinks and fast-melting chocolate ice cream to help them keep cool.
Saudi officials had advised pilgrims to use umbrellas, drink plenty of water and avoid sun exposure during the hottest hours of the day.
But many of the hajj rituals, including the Mount Arafat prayers that took place on Saturday, require being outside for hours during the day.
Some pilgrims described seeing motionless bodies along the road and ambulance services sometimes appearing overwhelmed.
According to Saudi authorities, about 1.8 million pilgrims took part in the hajj this year, including 1.6 million from abroad.
– Unregistered pilgrims –
Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform the Hajj through irregular channels because they cannot afford the often expensive procedures for official Hajj visas.
This puts these unofficial pilgrims at risk as they do not have access to the air-conditioned facilities provided by the Saudi authorities along the Hajj route.
One of the diplomats who spoke to AFP on Tuesday said the Egyptian death toll was “absolutely” increased by a large number of unregistered Egyptian pilgrims.
“Irregular pilgrims caused chaos in Egypt's pilgrim camps, causing services to collapse,” said an Egyptian official overseeing the country's hajj mission.
“The pilgrims were left without food, water or air conditioning for a long time.”
They died “from the heat because most people had no place” to shelter.
Earlier this month, Saudi officials said they had released hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca ahead of the hajj.
Other countries reporting deaths during the Hajj this year include Indonesia, Iran and Senegal.
Most countries did not specify how many deaths were heat-related.
Saudi Health Minister Fahd bin Abdul Rahman Al-Jaljel said on Tuesday that health plans for the hajj have been “successfully implemented”, preventing major outbreaks of disease and other threats to public health, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
Health officials “provided virtual consultations to more than 5,800 pilgrims, mainly for heat-related illnesses, allowing rapid intervention and mitigating the likelihood of an increase in cases,” SPA said.
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