Hajj pilgrimage death toll rises to at least 1,300 amid record high temperatures

More than 1,300 pilgrims died during Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia on this day Islamic holy sites face highest temperatures since then In the jungle kingdom, the Saudi government announced on Sunday.

Saudi Minister of State Fahd bin Abdurrahman al-Jalazel said 83% of the 1,301 deaths were unauthorized pilgrims who walked long distances in soaring temperatures to complete hajj rituals in and around the holy city of Mecca.

Speaking to state-owned television, the minister said 95 pilgrims were being treated in hospitals, with some of them being airlifted for treatment in the capital Riyadh. He said the identification process did not take place on time as many of the dead pilgrims had negative identification documents.

More than 660 Egyptians were among the dead. However, all 31 of them were unauthorized pilgrims, according to two Cairo officials. Egypt has suspended the licenses of 16 travel companies helping unauthorized pilgrims travel to Saudi Arabia, the government said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed a brief newsaudit, said several deaths were reported at the Crisis Complex in Mecca’s al-Muaysem community. sent to egypt More than 50,000 pilgrims were given permission to visit Saudi Arabia on this day.

The Saudi government cracked down on unauthorized pilgrims and expelled hundreds of people. However, many people, especially Egyptians, managed to reach the holy sites in and around Mecca, some on foot. Not like the accepted pilgrims, that they had negative resorts to retire from the scorching heat.

In a comment on Saturday, the Egyptian government said 16 travel companies did not lend adequate services and products to pilgrims. It said those companies facilitated travel of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia by illegally using visas, which do not allow holders to travel to Mecca.

The federal government additionally said that executives of the corporations were referred to the Community Prosecutor for investigation.

According to the state-owned Al-Ahram daily, some travel companies and hajj tour operators offered Saudi tourist visas to Egyptian hajj applicants, a violation of Saudi laws that require special visas for pilgrims. Those companies abandoned pilgrims to Mecca and other holy sites in extreme heat, the newspaper said.

The dead included 165 pilgrims from Indonesia, 98 from India and dozens from Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Malaysia, according to an Associated Press tally. Two American voters were also reported killed.

The AP could not independently determine the cause of death, but some countries, such as Jordan and Tunisia, blamed rising heat. AP Newshound observed pilgrims fainting from the scorching heat, especially on the second and third days of the hajj. Some vomited and fell down.

Traditionally, deaths on the Hajj do not seem unusual, with more than two million of the population periodically traveling to Saudi Arabia for the five-day pilgrimage. Horrific stampedes and epidemics are also seen in the history of pilgrimage.

However, this day’s numbers were surprisingly high, suggesting an excellent number of cases.

More than 2,400 pilgrims died in a stampede in Mina in 2015, the deadliest incident since an accident at the pilgrimage, the AP reported. Saudi Arabia has never released a total death toll from the stampede. The same day, 111 people died when a crane at the Brilliant Mosque in Mecca collapsed.

The second deadliest incident on the Hajj was the 1990 stampede in which 1,426 people were killed.

According to the Saudi National Centre, during this day’s Hajj period, daily maximum temperatures in and around Mecca and the city’s holy sites ranged between 46 °C (117 °F) and 49 °C (120 °F). Meteorology. Some people fainted while trying to symbolically stone the devil.

The Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, is one of the largest religious events in the world. According to the Saudi Hajj Government, more than 1.83 million Muslims performed Hajj in 2024, including more than 1.6 million from 22 countries and approximately 222,000 Saudi voters and citizens.

Saudi Arabia has spent billions on social monitoring and safety measures for people taking part in the annual five-day pilgrimage, although the sheer number of participants makes it difficult to ensure their safety.

The possibility may become even greater due to environmental change. A study conducted in 2019 by professionals at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that even if the industry succeeds in mitigating the worst consequences of climate change, the Hajj could be held in temperatures exceeding “extreme danger thresholds” from 2047 to 2052. May go. And from 2079 to 2086.

Islam follows the lunar calendar, so the Hajj comes approximately 11 days earlier. By 2029, the Hajj will take place in April, and for the next several years it will fall in the winter season, when temperatures are mild.