Greater than 1,300 individuals died throughout this yr’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as worshipers confronted extraordinarily excessive temperatures at Islamic holy websites within the desert kingdom, Saudi authorities introduced Sunday.
Saudi Well being Minister Fahd bin Abdurrahman Al-Jajel mentioned 83 p.c of the 1,301 deaths have been unauthorized pilgrims who walked lengthy distances in excessive temperatures to carry out Hajj rituals in and across the holy metropolis of Mecca. .
Talking to state tv Al Ekhbariya, the minister mentioned 95 pilgrims have been being handled in hospitals, a few of whom have been flown for remedy within the capital Riyadh.
He mentioned the identification course of was delayed as a result of there have been no identification paperwork with most of the lifeless pilgrims.
He mentioned the lifeless have been buried in Mecca, with out giving particulars.
Among the many fatalities have been greater than 660 Egyptians. All however 31 of them have been unauthorized pilgrims, based on two officers in Cairo.
Egypt has revoked the licenses of 16 journey companies that helped unauthorized pilgrims journey to Saudi Arabia, officers mentioned.
The officers, who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to transient journalists, mentioned many of the deaths have been reported on the Emergency Advanced in Mecca’s Al-Muaisem neighborhood. Egypt despatched greater than 50,000 approved pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this yr.
Saudi authorities cracked down on unauthorized pilgrims and expelled tens of hundreds of individuals. However many, largely Egyptians, managed to succeed in the holy websites in and round Mecca, some on foot. In contrast to approved pilgrims, they’d no motels to return to to flee the scorching warmth.
In an announcement on Saturday, Egypt’s authorities mentioned the 16 journey companies failed to supply sufficient companies to pilgrims. He mentioned these companies illegally facilitated the journey of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia utilizing visas that don’t permit their holders to journey to Mecca.
The federal government additionally mentioned firm officers have been referred to the prosecutor for investigation.
In keeping with the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper, some journey companies and Hajj tour operators offered Saudi vacationer visas to Egyptian Hajj hopefuls, violating Saudi laws requiring unique visas for pilgrims. These companies left pilgrims in limbo in Mecca and holy websites in scorching warmth, the newspaper mentioned.
The deaths additionally embody 165 pilgrims from Indonesia, 98 from India and dozens extra from Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Malaysia, based on an Related Press tally. The deaths of two Americans have been additionally reported.
The AP couldn’t independently affirm the reason for dying, however some international locations comparable to Jordan and Tunisia blamed elevated warmth. AP journalists noticed pilgrims fainting from the scorching warmth, particularly on the second and third days of the Hajj. Some vomited and collapsed.
Traditionally, deaths should not unusual within the Hajj, the place at instances greater than 2 million individuals have traveled to Saudi Arabia for a five-day pilgrimage. The historical past of the pilgrimage has additionally witnessed lethal stampedes and epidemics.
However this yr’s determine was unusually excessive, suggesting distinctive circumstances.
In 2015, a stampede in Mina killed greater than 2,400 pilgrims, the deadliest incident ever to happen on the pilgrimage, based on an AP tally.
Saudi Arabia has by no means acknowledged the total value of the stampede.
One other crane collapse at Mecca’s Grand Mosque earlier the identical yr killed 111 individuals.
The second deadliest incident within the Hajj was a stampede in 1990 that killed 1,426 individuals.
Throughout this yr’s Hajj interval, every day most temperatures ranged between 46 levels Celsius and 49 levels Celsius in Mecca and holy websites in and across the metropolis, based on the Saudi Nationwide Heart of Meteorology.
Some individuals fainted whereas attempting to carry out the symbolic stoning of the satan.
The Hajj, one of many 5 pillars of Islam, is likely one of the largest non secular gatherings on the earth. Greater than 1.83 million Muslims carried out the Hajj in 2024, together with greater than 1.6 million from 22 international locations and round 222,000 Saudi residents and residents, based on Saudi Hajj authorities.
Saudi Arabia has spent billions of {dollars} on crowd management and safety measures for these attending the annual five-day pilgrimage, however the sheer variety of contributors makes it tough to make sure their security.
Local weather change may make the danger even better.
A 2019 examine by consultants on the Massachusetts Institute of Know-how discovered that even when the world manages to mitigate the worst results of local weather change, the Hajj would happen in temperatures that might exceed an “excessive hazard threshold” from 2047 to 2052. and from 2079 to 2086.
Islam follows a lunar calendar, so the Hajj is introduced ahead about 11 days every year.
By 2029, the Hajj will happen in April, and for a number of years afterward it would fall in winter, when temperatures are milder.
