Saudi Arabia said Sunday that more than 1,300 pilgrims died during the Hajj pilgrimage, which occurred amid intense heat, with most of the deceased lacking official permits. The deceased came from over 10 countries, including the United States, Indonesia and India, with some governments still updating their toll.
The tragic figure includes 98 Indian nationals who died of “natural causes” during the pilgrimage. “This year, 175,000 Indians have already visited Hajj. So far, we have lost 98 of our citizens. These deaths occurred due to natural illness, chronic illness, and old age. On the day of Arafat, six Indians died, and four died in accidents,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a press conference last week.
The cause of death in most cases was heat-related. Temperatures in Mecca this year climbed as high as 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Saudi Arabia’s national meteorological centre. Riyadh had not publicly commented on the deaths or provided its own toll until Sunday. On Friday, however, a senior Saudi official defended Riyadh’s response, saying: “The state did not fail, but there was a misjudgement on the part of people who did not appreciate the risks.”
‘Heat stress’
The Saudi health minister, Fahd Al-Jalajel, on Sunday described management of the hajj this year as “successful”, SPA reported. He said the health system “provided more than 465,000 specialised treatment services, including 141,000 services to those who didn’t obtain official authorisation to perform hajj,” according to SPA, which summarised an interview he gave to the state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel.
Jalajel did not specify how many deaths Saudi officials attributed to heat. “The health system addressed numerous cases of heat stress this year, with some individuals still under care,” SPA reported. “Among the deceased were several elderly and chronically ill individuals.” The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam that all Muslims with the means must complete at least once in their lives.
Saudi officials have said 1.8 million pilgrims took part this year, a similar number to last year, and that 1.6 million came from abroad. For the past several years the mainly outdoor rituals have fallen during the sweltering Saudi summer. The timing of the hajj moves forward about 11 days each year in the Gregorian calendar, meaning that next year it will take place earlier in June, potentially in cooler conditions.
Hajj permits are allocated to countries on a quota system and distributed to individuals by lottery. Even for those who can obtain them, the steep costs spur many to attempt the hajj without a permit, though they risk arrest and deportation if caught. Saudi authorities said before the hajj that they had cleared hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca. But the Saudi official on Friday said around 400,000 unregistered pilgrims took part, and that “almost all of them (were) from one nationality”, an apparent reference to Egypt.
(With agency inputs)
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