Hajj pilgrimage deaths: Over 500 pilgrims die of heatstroke as Mecca's temperature soar over 50°C

Sweltering heat amid soaring temperatures has claimed the lives of a whopping 550 pilgrims during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia’s Mecca. At least 323 of the dead were Egyptians, diplomats have said.

Talking to AFP, the two Arab officials said that the pilgrims succumbed to heat-related illnesses. “All of them (the Egyptians) died because of heat” except for one who sustained fatal injuries during a minor crowd crush, one of the diplomats said, adding the total figure came from the hospital morgue in the Al-Muaisem neighbourhood of Mecca.

Temperatures in the Muslim pilgrim city touched 51.8 degrees Celcius on Monday, according to the National Center for Meteorology.

Most of the rituals of the Hajj, an annual pilgrimage that Muslims are obligated to make at least once in their lifetime, are held outside under the direct sun. Pilgrims are often exposed to extreme heat as they walk around the Kaaba in circles.

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At least 60 Jordanians also died, the diplomats said, up from an official tally of 41 given earlier on Tuesday by Amman.

Some pilgrims described seeing motionless bodies on the roadside and ambulance services that appeared overwhelmed at times.

Hajj and heatwave

The Hajj has been facing the wrath of climate change recently but that is not stopping pilgrims from visiting the holy site. Around 1.8 million pilgrims took part in the hajj this year, 1.6 million of them from abroad, according to Saudi authorities.

Studies suggest that increasing humidity and temperatures pose a threat to the health of pilgrims. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles predict that the annual pilgrimage could turn more dangerous from  2047 to 2052 and from 2079 to 2086 during the hottest months of the year.

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Unregistered pilgrims

Thousands of unregistered Muslims who often cannot afford the costly procedures for official visas attempt to perform the hajj via irregular channels. These pilgrims are the ones who are inadvertently affected more by the heat conditions as they do not have access to air-conditioned services and facilities.

One of the diplomats who spoke to AFP on Tuesday said that the Egyptian death toll was “absolutely” boosted by a large number of unregistered Egyptian pilgrims.

“Irregular pilgrims caused great chaos in the Egyptian pilgrims’ camps, causing the collapse of services,” said an Egyptian official supervising the country’s hajj mission.

“The pilgrims went without food, water, or air conditioning for a long time.”

They died “from the heat because most people had no place” to take shelter.

What’s the authority doing?

Saudi officials had advised pilgrims to use umbrellas, drink plenty of water and avoid exposure to the sun during the hottest hours of the day.

Experts have also recommended putting a cap on the number of visitors and allowing only those pilgrims who are in the best of health.

Meanwhile, authorities are also doing the best they can to ensure maximum comfort to pilgrims by providing cold water, installing large umbrellas with mist fans and setting up hospitals to treat heat-related illnesses.

With inputs from agencies