More than 1,000 people to die during 2024 Hajj pilgrimage amid extreme heat in Saudi Arabia, AFP reports

Riyadh — The number of deaths from this year’s Hajj The death toll has passed 1,000, according to an AFP count on Thursday. More than half of them are unregistered believers who made the pilgrimage in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia. The new deaths reported on Thursday include 58 from Egyptsaid an Arab diplomat, who presented a breakdown showing that of the total 658 deaths from this country, 630 were not recorded.

In total, about 10 countries have reported 1,081 deaths during the annual pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam that every Muslim with the financial means must complete at least once. The figures come from official statements or from diplomats working on their countries’ measures.

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 weather center reported high temperatures of 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) at the Grand Mosque in Mecca earlier this week. Egyptian officials contacted by CBS News would not confirm the figures cited by AFP, but dozens of videos posted on social media in recent days show bodies lying in the streets around the Grand Mosque.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry released a statement on social media on Thursday confirming the deaths of 68 citizens who had travelled to Saudi Arabia for the hajj, with 16 others still missing. The ministry said many of the dead would be buried in Mecca in accordance with their families’ wishes.

According to a Saudi study published last month, temperatures in the region are rising by 0.4 degrees Celsius, or just under one degree Fahrenheit, every decade.

Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform the hajj illegally because they cannot afford the often expensive official permits. Saudi authorities reported they had deported hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca earlier this month, but it appears many still took part in the main rites, which 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 down 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.

In addition to Egypt, AFP also received confirmation of deaths in Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Jordan, Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia and the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In many cases, however, authorities did not provide information on the cause of death.

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.

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