Saudi Arabia’s health minister said Sunday that more than 1,300 people have died this year after temperatures soared well above 100 degrees during the hajj pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest sites.
Temperatures soared to 125 degrees Fahrenheit at the height of the five-day pilgrimage, which began June 14 and centered on the holy city of Mecca.
Agence France-Presse estimate Saudi officials said more than half of the dead were unregistered pilgrims, who lack access to air conditioning and other amenities to survive the extreme cold.
Saudi Arabian authorities have expelled tens of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca, but AFP reported that around 400,000 unregistered pilgrims performed the hajj this year.
An Egyptian cabinet official told The Associated Press that about half of the dead – at least 630 – were Egyptians.
The dead include 165 pilgrims from Indonesia, 98 from India and dozens from Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Malaysia, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Two American pilgrims were also reported to have died.
The causes of death have not been made public, but most are believed to have died from heat-related complications. The Associated Press reported that its journalists witnessed many pilgrims fainting or collapsing during the Hajj.
While deaths are not uncommon during the hajj, given the large numbers of people travelling to Saudi Arabia’s holy sites, this year’s death toll is unusually high. The pilgrimage has seen deadly disease and stampedes in the past, including one in 2015 that killed an estimated 2,400 people.
Saudi authorities say 1.86 million people have performed the hajj this year, a pilgrimage considered a pillar of Islam that Muslims must perform at least once in their lifetime.
