Hajj 2024: Death toll due to extreme heat exceeds 1,000

The death toll from this year’s hajj is over 1,000, according to an AFP count on Thursday. More than half of them were unregistered believers who made the pilgrimage in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia.

Among the new deaths reported on Thursday were 58 from Egypt, according to an Arab diplomat. A breakdown shows that of the 658 Egyptians who died, 630 were unregistered pilgrims.

A total of 1,081 deaths were reported from about ten countries during the annual pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, which every Muslim with the necessary means must complete at least once.

The figures come from official statements or from diplomats working on their countries’ responses.

This year, the Hajj, which is scheduled according to the Islamic lunar calendar, once again fell during Saudi Arabia’s scorching hot season.

The National Meteorological Center reported a high of 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) at the Grand Mosque in Mecca this week.

According to a Saudi study published last month, temperatures in the region are rising by 0.4 degrees Celsius every decade.

Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform the Hajj illegally because they cannot afford the often costly official permits.

Saudi authorities said they expelled hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca this month, but many of them apparently took part in the main rituals that began last Friday.

This group was more exposed to the heat because, without official permission, they had no access to the air-conditioned rooms provided by the Saudi authorities to the 1.8 million authorized pilgrims so they could cool off after hours of walking and praying outdoors.

“People were tired after being chased by security forces ahead of Arafat Day. They were exhausted,” an Arab diplomat told AFP on Thursday, referring to the all-day open-air prayers on Saturday that marked the climax of the hajj.

The diplomat said the main cause of death among Egyptian pilgrims is the heat, which causes complications related to high blood pressure and other problems.

Burials begin

In addition to Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia also confirmed new deaths on Thursday.

Of the approximately 150,000 pilgrims, Pakistan has so far recorded 58 deaths, a diplomat briefed on the tally told AFP.

“I think it’s quite natural given the crowds and the weather,” the diplomat said.

Indonesia, where about 240,000 pilgrims took part, raised the death toll to 183, compared to 313 deaths last year, according to the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Malaysia, India, Jordan, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia, Sudan and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have also confirmed deaths. In many cases, authorities have not specified the cause of death.

Meanwhile, friends and family members are searching for pilgrims who are still missing.

On Wednesday, they searched hospitals and pleaded online for news, fearing the worst in the scorching temperatures.

Two diplomats told AFP on Thursday that Saudi authorities had begun burying the deceased pilgrims, with the bodies being cleaned, wrapped in white shrouds and transported for burial in individual graves.

“The funeral will be carried out by the Saudi authorities. They have their own system, so we just follow it,” said a diplomat, stressing that his country is trying to notify the relatives of the dead as best it can.

The other diplomat said that given the high death toll, it was impossible to notify many families in advance, especially in Egypt, where so many people have died.

“Extreme danger”

Saudi Arabia has not released any death toll figures, but reported more than 2,700 cases of “heat knot” on Sunday alone.

Last year, more than 300 deaths were reported during the Hajj in various countries, most of them among Indonesians.

The timing of Hajj moves back by about 11 days in the Gregorian calendar each year, meaning that next year it will take place earlier, in June, and possibly in cooler temperatures.

According to a 2019 study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, heat stress on Hajj pilgrims due to climate change will exceed the “threshold of extreme danger” in 2047-2052 and 2079-2086, “with increasing frequency and intensity throughout the century.”

Hosting the Hajj is a source of prestige for the Saudi royal family, and King Salman’s official title includes the words “Custodian of the Two Holy Sites” in Mecca and Medina.

Over the years, there have been repeated stampedes and fires during the Hajj. The most recent stampede during the “Stoning of the Devil” ritual in Mina near Mecca in 2015 ended in disaster, killing up to 2,300 people.