Officials Report Over 1,000 Pilgrim Deaths At Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia

More than 1,000 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as pilgrims faced extreme high temperatures at Islamic holy sites, officials reported Sunday.

Over half of the fatalities were from Egypt, according to two officials in Cairo. In response, Egyptian authorities revoked the licenses of 16 travel agencies that facilitated unauthorised pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has not yet commented on the deaths during the pilgrimage, which every able Muslim is required to undertake at least once in their lifetime.

The Egyptian government confirmed the deaths of 31 authorized pilgrims due to chronic diseases during this year’s Hajj but did not provide an official count for unauthorized pilgrims. 

However, a Cabinet official estimated at least 630 unauthorized Egyptian pilgrims died, with most fatalities reported at the Emergency Complex in Mecca’s Al-Muaisem neighborhood. 

An Egyptian diplomat corroborated this tally, adding that most of the deceased have been buried in Saudi Arabia.

These officials spoke on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Saudi authorities expelled tens of thousands of unauthorised pilgrims, yet many, predominantly Egyptians, still reached the holy sites around Mecca, often traveling on foot. Unlike authorized pilgrims, they had no hotels to escape the blistering heat.

The Egyptian government stated that the 16 travel agencies in question failed to provide adequate services and illegally facilitated pilgrimages using visas not intended for travel to Mecca. Officials from these companies have been referred to the public prosecutor for investigation.

The fatalities also included 165 pilgrims from Indonesia, 98 from India, and dozens from Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Malaysia, according to an Associated Press tally. 

Two U.S. pilgrims were also reported dead. AP journalists witnessed pilgrims fainting, vomiting, and collapsing from the intense heat during the pilgrimage, particularly on the second and third days.

Death tolls at the Hajj are not unprecedented, with over 2 million participants attending the five-day event annually. Historically, the Hajj has seen deadly stampedes and outbreaks of disease. However, this year’s high death toll indicates exceptional circumstances.

In 2015, a stampede in Mina killed over 2,400 pilgrims, marking the deadliest incident in Hajj history, according to AP records. Saudi Arabia has not disclosed the full toll of this event. The same year, a crane collapse at Mecca’s Grand Mosque killed 111 people. The second-deadliest incident was a 1990 stampede that killed 1,426 people.

This year, daily high temperatures during the Hajj ranged between 46°C (117°F) and 49°C (120°F) in Mecca and surrounding sacred sites, according to the Saudi National Center for Meteorology. Many pilgrims fainted while performing rituals, including the symbolic stoning of the devil.

The Hajj, one of Islam’s five pillars, is one of the world’s largest religious gatherings. This year, over 1.83 million Muslims performed the pilgrimage, including more than 1.6 million from 22 countries and approximately 222,000 Saudi citizens and residents, according to Saudi Hajj authorities.

Despite Saudi Arabia’s investment of billions in crowd control and safety measures, the immense number of participants makes ensuring safety challenging. Climate change could further exacerbate these risks. 

A 2019 study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology experts predicted that even with successful climate mitigation, the Hajj will face “extreme danger” temperatures from 2047 to 2052, and from 2079 to 2086.

Since Islam follows a lunar calendar, the Hajj occurs 11 days earlier each year. By 2029, the pilgrimage will take place in April, and in subsequent years, it will fall in winter, when temperatures are milder.

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