Saudi Arabia on Sunday put the number of pilgrims who died in the scorching heat during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage at more than 1,300. Health Minister Fahd bin Abdurrahman.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday put the number of pilgrims who died in the scorching heat during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage at more than 1,300. Health Minister Fahd bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel said on state TV that 83% of the fatalities were among unauthorized pilgrims who walked long distances in the sun, the AP reports. In Cairo, officials said the total includes more than 660 people from Egypt. Saudi Arabia expelled tens of thousands of unauthorized pilgrims, but many still reached reach the Mecca holy sites on foot. They had no hotels for refuge from the heat.
Hundreds of people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced intense high temperatures at Islamic holy sites, officials said Wednesday, as people tried to claim their loved ones’ bodies.
