The heat wreaks havoc on the Hajj.1,301 died on the pilgrimage to Mecca

Record temperatures of 51.8°C caused the deaths of at least 922 pilgrims during the Hajj in Mecca.Most are Egyptians.

Last updated at 07:45 on 24 June 2024

At least 1.301 people died in Saudi Arabia during the Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, due to record temperatures in the above 50°C achieved these days.According to diplomats, the vast majority of victims are Egyptian nationals.“All (the Egyptians) died due to the heat,” except one of the victims who suffered fatal injuries during a small crush.

According to the Ministry of Health in Riyadh, more than 2,760 pilgrims suffered from sunstroke and heat-related stress only on Sunday.The number of deaths has more than quadrupled that of last year, which reached figure of 240.

What is the Hajj, the pilgrimage for Muslims

The Hajj is the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, required once in a lifetime of all Muslims who can afford it and are physically capable of doing so.This pilgrimage it is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, in addition to the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving and fasting during the month of Ramadan. It differs from Umrah, a smaller pilgrimage with a shortened route and which can be done at any time of the year.The final half is the Ka'ba which is located in the center of the Great Mosque of Mecca.The Ka'ba is a cubic structure that metaphorically represents the house of God and it's there direction towards which Muslims pray during the day.

During the pilgrimage they are there different rites to be carried out in five days, between the eighth and thirteenth day of month of Dhu al-Hijja, the last month of the Islamic calendar.Being a lunar calendar, with eleven days less than the Gregorian calendar, the date of the Hajj changes every year.

On the third day of Hajj, the tenth of the month Dhul al-Hijja, theEid al-Adha, the feast of sacrifice, which commemorates the Abraham's test of faith and the sacrifice of his son – for Muslims it is Ishmael, while for Christians and Jews the sacrifice would have been Isaac.During this holiday, Muslims slaughter sheep or cattle and distribute part of the meat to the poor.

For pilgrims, the Hajj it is a religious obligation, but also aa profoundly spiritual experience that lasts a lifetime.It is seen as an opportunity to seek forgiveness for past sins, to draw closer to God and to walk in the footsteps of the prophets.From a community point of view, the pilgrimage unites Muslims of different nationalities, ethnicities, languages ​​and social classes from all over the world in the performance of religious rituals and acts of worship, which occur at the same time and place.This causes many to try a sense of unity, connection, humility and equality.

In 2019 the record figure of has been reached 2.5 million of pilgrims, the last before the covid-19 pandemic. This year Saudi Arabia hosted some 1.8 million, coming from all over the world.

The effects of extreme heat on pilgrims

The pilgrimage to Mecca is increasingly influenced by climate change.According to a Saudi study published last month, temperatures in the area where the rituals take place increasing by 0.4°C every decade.On Monday 17 June temperatures reached 51.8°C at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

AFP journalists in Mina, outside Mecca, they told of pilgrims intent on pouring bottles of water over their heads, while volunteers distributed cold drinks and ice creams to try to cool off.Saudi officials have advised pilgrims to use umbrellas, drink plenty of water and avoid exposure to the sun during the hottest hours of the day, but many of the Hajj rituals, including the prayers on Mount Arafat which took place on Saturday, involve the stay outdoors for hours during the day.Some pilgrims reported seeing motionless bodies on the side of the road and ambulance services that at times seemed overstretched.

Every year tens of thousands of pilgrims they attempt to perform the Hajj through irregular channels, as they cannot afford the often expensive procedures to obtain official visas.And that puts them at risk, because they cannot access the air-conditioned facilities provided by the Saudi authorities along the entire pilgrimage route.One of the diplomats who announced the death of the pilgrims, reported that the Egyptian death toll is increased due to the large number of unregistered Egyptian believers.Not only that, the difficulty tracking irregular pilgrims it is also making it difficult to find those who have been ill or, worse, deceased.

Also an official from Cairo who supervises the team of Egyptian pilgrims to Mecca he reiterated that the large number of irregulars caused chaos in the camps intended for Egyptian pilgrims.“Pilgrims are left for a long time without food, water and air conditioning“.They died “from the heat because most people he had nowhere to take shelter“.

In addition to the 2,760 pilgrims physically rescued, the Saudi Ministry of Health activated a sort of virtual hospital with which people could communicate.The department reported that have been carried out over 5,800 online consultations with pilgrims, all with symptoms of sunstroke or heat stroke.