Makkah: A Saudi diplomat announced on Wednesday that 68 Indian nationals were among more than 600 pilgrims who died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Makkah, which was marked by extreme heat. The deaths were largely due to natural causes and harsh weather conditions, particularly affecting elderly pilgrims.
This new figure follows a report by two Arab diplomats who mentioned that 550 deaths had been recorded during the Hajj. These included 323 Egyptians and 60 Jordanians, with most Egyptian fatalities attributed to the intense heat. Other confirmed deaths came from Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia, and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.
The total number of reported deaths now stands at 645, according to an AFP tally. Last year, over 200 pilgrims died, most of them from Indonesia. The Saudi authorities have not officially released information on fatalities but reported more than 2,700 cases of heat exhaustion on a single day.
The diplomat also mentioned that some Indian pilgrims are still missing. He noted that the number of deaths this year is similar to previous years and that more information will be available in the coming days. For several years, the Hajj has occurred during the hot Saudi summer, with a recent study indicating that temperatures in the area are rising by 0.4 degrees Celsius each decade.
On Tuesday, temperatures in Makkah reached 47 degrees Celsius, with some pilgrims fainting during the symbolic stoning of the devil. The Saudi National Center for Meteorology recorded temperatures as high as 51.8 degrees Celsius at the Grand Mosque in Makkah.
This year, more than 1.83 million Muslims performed the Hajj, including over 1.6 million from 22 countries.
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