NEW DELHI: At least 922 people, including 80 Indians, have died of scorching heat during the five-day Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. A number of Indians are reportedly missing. “Nine of the dead are from Jammu and Kashmir. The deaths are due to extreme heat and also due to old age. Two Indians died in road accidents,” said a source.
According to AFP, 600 of the 922 who died are Egyptians. Fatalities have been confirmed by Jordan, Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia, and Kurdistan.
Last year more than 200 pilgrims were reported dead, most of them from Indonesia. This year’s tragedy could be the third deadliest incident at Haj after the 2015 stampede in Mina that killed 2,400 pilgrims and the 1990 stampede that killed 1,426 people.
The Saudi government has not provided any official information on fatalities so far, though it flagged 2,700 cases of ‘heat exhaustion’ on Sunday.
Sources said the toll could go up as scores of pilgrims are reported missing by their relatives, who scoured hospitals and took to social media. Facebook and other social media networks were flooded with pictures of the missing and requests for leads.
About 1.8 million people from all over the world, many old and infirm, took part in the days-long, mostly outdoor pilgrimage, held this year during the oven-like Saudi summer. Temperatures are hovering over 50 degrees Celsius in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city. According to reports, several people fainted while trying to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil amid blazing heat.
According to a Saudi study published last month, temperatures in the area are rising 0.4 degrees Celsius each decade.
Saudi Arabia has already spent billions of dollars on crowd control and safety measures, but the sheer number of participants makes ensuring their safety difficult.
Nearly 1.75 lakh Indians went for Haj this year. Officials claimed India extended all possible support to make the pilgrims’ stay comfortable and even facilitated their transfer to Mecca from Riyadh on a high-speed train.
Haj is the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is considered a must for every Muslim who can afford the trip and is physically able to make it.