Brian McDonald
Riyadh — The death toll of this year’s hajj it surpassed 1,000, according to an AFP count on Thursday, more than half of them unregistered worshipers who carried out the pilgrimage in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia. The new deaths reported Thursday included 58 from Egyptaccording to an Arab diplomat who provided a breakdown showing that of the total 658 deaths in that country, 630 were not registered.
In all, some 10 countries have reported 1,081 deaths during the annual pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam that all Muslims with means must complete at least once. The numbers came through official statements or diplomats working on their countries’ responses.
The hajj, whose timing is determined by the Islamic lunar calendar, fell again this year during the Saudi summer.
Issam Rimawi/Anadolu/Getty
The national meteorological center reported a high of 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) earlier this week in the Grand Mosque of Mecca. Egyptian authorities contacted by CBS News did not confirm the figures stated by AFP, but dozens of videos posted on social media in recent days showed bodies lying in the streets around the Grand Mosque.
According to a Saudi study published last month, temperatures in the region rise by 0.4 degrees Celsius, or just under one degree Fahrenheit, every decade.
Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform the hajj through irregular channels because they cannot afford the often expensive official permits. Saudi authorities reported expelling hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca earlier this month, but it appears many still participated in the main rites that began last Friday.
This group was most vulnerable to the heat because, without official permits, they could not access the air-conditioned spaces provided by Saudi authorities for the 1.8 million authorized pilgrims to cool off after hours of walking and praying outdoors.
“People were tired after being chased by security forces before Arafat Day. They were exhausted,” an Arab diplomat told AFP on Thursday, referring to Saturday’s open-air prayers that marked the climax of hajj.
FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty
The diplomat said that the main cause of death among Egyptian pilgrims was the heat, which triggered complications related to hypertension and other problems.
In addition to Egypt, fatalities were also confirmed to AFP in Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Jordan, Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia and the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, although in many cases the authorities did not specify the cause.
Friends and family have been searching for pilgrims who are still missing.
On Wednesday, they scoured hospitals and asked for news online, fearing the worst during the scorching temperatures.
Saudi Arabia has not provided information on deaths, although it reported more than 2,700 cases of “heat exhaustion” on Sunday alone.
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