The official death toll from this year’s Hajj pilgrimage has soared to almost 500 and the true toll could be more than double that as reports emerged that as many as 600 Egyptian worshipers perished on the route to Mecca amid extreme heat.
At least 14 Malaysians, 165 Indonesians, 75 Jordanians, 35 Pakistanis, 49 Tunisians, 11 Iranians and 98 Indians were killed across all countries, according to officials. The Jordanian foreign ministry said another 27 Jordanians were hospitalized and about 14 people were still missing.
The US State Department said several US citizens had died during the Hajj pilgrimage but did not give an exact number. “We can confirm the deaths of several American nationals in Saudi Arabia and offer our deepest condolences to the families of those who died,” a foreign ministry spokesman said, adding that the ministry stood ready to provide consular assistance.
Dozens of Iranians have also been hospitalized with heatstroke and other illnesses, the Iranian Red Crescent said Wednesday, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The official death toll from this year’s pilgrimage is at least 480,
Saudi Arabia and Egypt have yet to release official statistics, so the death toll could rise significantly. In addition, there are concerns that the death toll among unregistered pilgrims could rise further, as governments only keep track of pilgrims who registered and traveled to Mecca within their own country’s quotas.
Pilgrims traveled this year in dangerously hot temperatures of 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit).
The Egyptian presidency said the crisis task force will be led by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and will “provide assistance to the families of the dead.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also ordered the force to “rapidly coordinate with Saudi Arabian authorities to enable the repatriation of the bodies” of the dead, the statement added.
The official Egyptian death toll was 28, according to an Egyptian cabinet statement on Thursday, but Reuters and other media widely reported that 500 to 600 Egyptians had died along the route.
Egyptian authorities said they were working to tally up the exact number of casualties and missing. The discrepancy is due to the large number of unregistered pilgrims who are not included among those who registered and visited Mecca according to their country’s quotas. 4,444 4,444 An estimated 1.8 million Muslims battled the high temperatures, with thousands more treated for heatstroke.
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health introduced safety measures such as installing cooling stations along the official route and urged pilgrims to continue using umbrellas and staying hydrated, the Associated Press reported. Still, this year’s event was marred by tragedy, raising questions about whether more could have been done to keep people safe.
It also highlights the dangers for many unregistered believers who want to fulfill their religious obligations despite not having a hajj permit or access to official facilities.
Of the dozens of Jordanians who died of heatstroke during hajj rituals, at least 68 pilgrims have been granted permission to be buried in Mecca at the request of their families, according to Sufian Khuda, head of Jordan’s General Affairs and Consular Affairs Department.
Malaysia’s Minister of Religious Affairs, Dr. Mohd Naim Mokhtar, said most of the pilgrims died of “heart disease, pneumonia and blood infections,” according to state-run Bernama news agency. The Bernama report did not say whether the dead were members of the country’s official Hajj delegation.
Announcing the deaths of 98 Indian nationals on Friday, a spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs said, “They died of natural diseases, natural causes, chronic diseases and old age.” Six Indian nationals died from extreme heat and four others died in “accidents” at the site where Muslims gather on Mount Arafat, where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have delivered his final sermon, the spokesman said, without giving further details.
Following the deaths, Tunisian President Kais Saied fired the country’s minister of religious affairs. Before his dismissal, Ibrahim Chaibi acknowledged he may have failed to look after pilgrims. “There may have been negligence. There definitely were and we will judge at the ministry level and those who failed will be punished,” Chaibi said on Friday.
The Saudi government said on Monday that more than 2,700 people had been treated for heatstroke. Hundreds of people have now posted on social media that their loved ones are missing.
According to the Saudi Bureau of Statistics, this year more than 1.8 million people are expected to take part in the Hajj, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings.
Although deaths among pilgrims are not uncommon (last year there were more than 200), this year’s gathering is taking place in particularly hot weather.
The Hajj season changes every year according to the Islamic calendar, and this year it fell in June, one of the hottest months in the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia advised pilgrims not to perform the “stoning of the devil” ritual for a certain period of time after temperatures reached an extreme 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit).
Hajj officials urged pilgrims to take umbrellas and stay hydrated given the harsh conditions. The Saudi military also deployed more than 1,600 troops, as well as a medical unit specializing in heat stroke and 30 rapid response teams. An additional 5,000 volunteer medical and emergency personnel participated.
Performing the Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and every Muslim who is physically and financially able to do so is expected to make the journey to the holy city of Mecca at least once in their lifetime.
The pilgrimage involves a number of detailed rituals, including the wearing of special robes symbolizing the equality and unity of people before God, a counterclockwise procession around the cube-shaped Kaaba, and the symbolic stoning of evil.
Source of prestige and revenue
The hajj is a source of prestige for the Saudi king, who holds the title of custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites. The pilgrimage is also a key source of revenue for the Saudi economy.
Shortly after King Salman bin Abdulaziz took power in 2015, Saudi Arabia launched a $21 billion project to expand Mecca’s Grand Mosque to accommodate an additional 300,000 worshippers. A year later, then-Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed described the pilgrimage as a key element of a plan to diversify the Saudi economy by 2030.
Experts say the economic benefits of the pilgrimage are tiny in comparison, taking into account the amount of oil sold each day. It brings in almost $1 billion for the kingdom. But its huge untapped potential could bring considerable wealth to the kingdom in the long term.
With around 21 million worshippers visiting Saudi Arabia annually during the 10-day Hajj and year-long Umrah pilgrimages, pilgrimage revenues are estimated to average $30 billion a year and generate 100,000 jobs for the kingdom, according to official data cited by Reuters. The government aims to increase pilgrimage numbers to 30 million by 2030.