Death toll during Hajj pilgrimage rises to hundreds

During Saudi Arabia’s annual Hajj pilgrimage, one of the most important events in the Muslim calendar, at least 450 people died under the scorching sun while praying at holy sites around the holy city of Mecca.

At maximum temperatures Temperatures ranged from 42 to 49 degrees Celsius, according to preliminary reports, and crowds were rife, with many fainting and needing medical attention. The pilgrims, some of whom have saved their entire lives for the hajj, spend days walking and sleeping in tents on their journey to Mecca, the Muslims’ holiest city. The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and all Muslims who are physically and financially able are obliged to make the pilgrimage.

Indonesia has reported the most deaths so far (199), while India has reported 98. Both countries said they could not yet be sure that the heat was responsible for all the deaths. However, relatives of the missing and dead and tour operators said the heat was at least a contributing factor.

The death toll is likely to rise further as neither Saudi Arabia nor Egypt, the countries of origin of many pilgrims, have published data on the deaths of their citizens.

The situation in Egypt is so alarming that the country has set up crisis centers to receive emergency calls and coordinate government response. Many families are bracing for a high death toll as many people have been reported missing.

This year, according to the Saudi Statistics Authority, more than 1.8 million Muslims traveled to Mecca, 1.6 million of them from outside Saudi Arabia.

Many complained that there were not enough cooling stations or water for all the pilgrims. And early reports suggested part of the problem was that many people did not officially register for the pilgrimage, possibly to avoid the high cost of Hajj package tours.

Many of the pilgrims are elderly people who have saved for years to travel to the holy city. In the days before and during the holy season of Eid al-Adha, pilgrims visit several holy sites, including circumambulation of the Kaaba and prayers on Mount Arafat.

In a Facebook group dedicated to the Hajj with more than 900,000 members, Egyptians posted appeals for their missing relatives. In one of these posts, a woman left a message to her mother: “Mom, it’s me, Rabab. I’m waiting for you outside the King Khaled Bridge… Please look at this post. I’m dying for you. You are the light of my eyes.”

Other countries that have reported fatalities include Jordan, Tunisia and Pakistan.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said 75 pilgrims had died “as a result of the intense heat wave.”

Tunisia’s religious affairs minister, Ibrahim Chaibi, said 49 Tunisians had died. He said that number was expected to rise as the number of pilgrims travelling on tourist visas became clearer, according to Tunisia’s state news agency.

An Egyptian tour operator said many pilgrims had opted for tourist visas due to rising prices for Hajj package tours and the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, putting a strain on facilities in Mecca and surrounding holy sites.

The man, speaking from Mecca, described the harsh conditions for unregistered pilgrims. He spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons and said unregistered pilgrims have no tents and face extreme heat. He said there are too few buses, forcing many pilgrims to walk distances of more than 12 miles (19 kilometers).

Hind Hassan from Egypt said her aunt Safa Tawab died during the hajj and the travel company that organized her trip kept the news secret until the family found her name on a list of the deceased published online.

A friend who accompanied 55-year-old Tawab told the family that the pilgrimage was like “walking the path of death” because of the heat and lack of water, Hassan said.

Mahmoud Qassem, a member of the Egyptian parliament, blamed rogue tour operators for “exposing Egyptian pilgrims to deception and fraud by tourism companies” and called for a police investigation.

Islamic Relief, a global aid organization based in London, has been warning about the impacts of climate change on the Hajj since 2019.

“If global emissions continue at current rates, temperatures in Mecca will rise to levels that the human body can no longer sustain,” Shahin Ashraf, the organization’s global advocacy director, said in an emailed statement on Friday.

In Pakistan, which officials said lost at least 35 people, mourners gathered to pay their respects to their dead. Dozens of people in Chaman, a town in Balochistan province on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, paid their condolences outside the home of Abdul Bari Kakar. Kakar, 49, ran a gas cylinder shop and had been saving for months to make his third trip, his relatives said.

He decided to go there “to pray for his grandfather who died years ago,” said his son Sardar Wali.

“We are saddened by his death,” he said, “but he was lucky to die in the Holy Land.”

Hager Elhakeem reported from Luxor, Egypt, Christina Goldbaum and Zia ur-Rehman from Pakistan, Muktita Suhartono from Indonesia and Judson Jones reported from Atlanta.