INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hundreds of visitors have died during the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca amid scorching heat, according to press reports and foreign
ministries.At least 550 people have died on haj, diplomats told French outlet Agence France Presse (AFP) on Tuesday
Three hundred and twenty-three of the dead were Egyptians, most of whom perished due to heat-related illness, AFP reported, citing two Arab
diplomats.Reuters was not able to immediately verify those numbers.Stampedes, tent fires and other accidents have caused hundreds of deaths
during haj to Saudi Arabia in the past 30 years
The pilgrimage began on Friday.Saudi state TV said temperatures rose on Monday as high as 51.8 degrees Celsius (125.2 Fahrenheit) in the
shade at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.A 2024 study by the Journal of Travel and Medicine found that rising global temperatures may outpace
strategies to deal with the heat
A 2019 study by Geophysical Research Letters said that as temperatures rise in arid Saudi Arabia due to climate change, pilgrims performing
haj will face &extreme danger&.Thirty-five Tunisian citizens have died during the haj, Tunisian news agency Tunis Afrique Presse said on
Tuesday.Many of those deaths were due to extreme heat, family members said on social media, as other families continued to search for
missing relatives in Saudi hospitals, Reuters reported.The Jordanian foreign ministry said it had issued 41 burial permits for Jordanian
Earlier, the ministry said at least six Jordanian citizens died of heat stroke during the haj.Eleven Iranians have died and 24 were
hospitalized during the pilgrimage, Iranian state news outlet IRINN said on Tuesday without giving the causes of death.Three Senegalese
citizens also died during haj, Agence de Presse Sénégalaise, said on Monday.One hundred and forty-four Indonesian citizens died during the
pilgrimage, Indonesian health ministry data showed on Tuesday
The data did not specify if any of the deaths were due to heat stroke.PHYSICAL EXERTIONThe haj is an annual pilgrimage that millions of
Muslims make to Mecca to perform religious rites as taught by the Prophet Mohammad to his followers 14 centuries ago.A Saudi health
official, speaking to Reuters on Monday, before many of the reports of deaths were issued, said that authorities had not noticed any unusual
fatalities among Muslim pilgrims amid the extremely high temperatures.The ministry had so far treated more than 2,700 pilgrims who suffered
from heat-related illness, he added.Haj is a difficult task, so you have to exert efforts and perform the rituals even in the conditions of
heat and crowding,& an Egyptian pilgrim told Reuters on Sunday.Pilgrims used umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun, as Saudi
authorities warned pilgrims to stay hydrated and avoid being outdoors during the hottest hours between 11 a.m
(0800 GMT) and 3 p.m.Haj, one of the largest mass gatherings in the world, is a once-in-a-lifetime duty for able-bodied Muslims who can
It will end on Wednesday, read the report.More than 1.8 million pilgrims were expected to take part this year, according to the Saudi
General Authority for Statistics
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2024The post Hundreds die of extreme heat on haj pilgrimage, reports say first appeared on Ariana News.
