(Image source from: x.com/MoHU_En)
Due to the rise in temperatures nearly 550 pilgrims died in Mecca. On Tuesday diplomats reported that nearly 550 pilgrims were dead in this year's Hajj. In this almost 323 pilgrims were Egyptians. As per the two Arab diplomats, all of the Egyptians died due to the heat, except for one who suffered fatal injuries in a minor crowd crush. The death toll was confirmed by the Al Muaisem Hospital morgue at Mecca. Amman, Jordan on Tuesday confirmed that 41 from their country died in Mecca, but sources claim that at least 60 died. With the new deaths in place, the death toll has risen to 577 according to an AFP tally. The reason behind huge pilgrims is because Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims try to visit Mecca at least once in their lifetime, which is crowding Mecca at these adverse temperatures. The change of climate is leading to temperatures high in Mecca and leading to the struggle of pilgrims.
On Monday at the Grand Mosque, Mecca the temperatures hit 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) according to the Saudi National Meteorology Centre. People were spotted lying with no movements in their bodies. Ambulance services were doing their work and officials were struggling to reach support to every pilgrim. Many people have also gone missing in the region and Cairo in collaboration with Saudi authorities started a search operation for Egyptians who have gone missing in the hajj. Saudi authorities also said that they are treating 2000 pilgrims who are suffering due to the heat stress. According to AFP journalists, they spotted pilgrims pouring water over their heads after getting water bottles from the volunteers. Volunteers also provide cold drinks and fast-melting chocolate ice cream to help them with the weather. Besides this, the rituals in the hajj, including prayers on Mount Arafat are being done outdoors. Saudi officials, by considering this, have asked the hajj pilgrims to use umbrellas, drink plenty of water and also to stay indoors as much as possible. Hajj is the largest pilgrim centre in the world with over 1.8 million pilgrims visiting every year.
Unregistered pilgrims:
More damage is being done to the unregistered pilgrims as many can't afford the costly procedure of the official Hajj visas, which is leading them to try for cheap ways of travel. They often travel through irregular channels. Such types of pilgrims can't have access to air conditioning facilities, which were provided by the Saudi authorities. Irregular pilgrims mainly are from Egypt and these pilgrims suffer from a lack of water, proper food and air conditioning, which leads to death. Sadly they even will not have proper shelter. Earlier this month many visited Mecca in an unregistered manner.
