Saudi authorities have revealed that over 1,300 individuals lost their lives during the annual Hajj pilgrimage this year due to the scorching temperatures at the sacred Islamic locations in the desert kingdom. During an interview with state-owned Al Ekhbariya TV, Saudi Health Minister Fahd bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel revealed that 83% of the 1,301 deaths were unauthorised pilgrims who endured extreme heat and walked long distances to complete the Hajj rituals near Mecca. He also mentioned that 95 pilgrims were receiving medical treatment in hospitals, with some having to be airlifted to Riyadh for further care.
The lack of identification documents caused a delay in identifying many of the deceased pilgrims, leading to their burial in Mecca without specific details provided. Among the fatalities were over 660 Egyptians, with only 31 of them confirmed to be authorised pilgrims by officials in Cairo. Authorities in Egypt have, therefore, announced the cancellation of licenses for 16 travel agencies that facilitated the unauthorised travel of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia. Anonymous officials revealed that the majority of casualties occurred at the Emergency Complex in the Al-Muaisem district of Mecca. Over 50,000 Egyptian pilgrims were sent to Saudi Arabia this year.
Despite expelling many unauthorised pilgrims, some still enter the site.
Saudi officials expelled tens of thousands of unauthorised pilgrims, but many, especially Egyptians, still found ways to reach sites and their surroundings, with some even walking the distance. Lacking the luxury of authorised pilgrims, they had no hotels to seek refuge from the heat. However, Egypt’s government issued a statement accusing 16 travel agencies of failing to meet the needs of pilgrims. The government claimed that these agencies were involved in illegal activities by organising trips to Saudi Arabia with visas that did not permit travel to Mecca. The government has announced that the public prosecutor will investigate company officials.
According to an Associated Press report, there were casualties from other countries, including Indonesia, India, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Malaysia. Additionally, there were two individuals from the United States who lost their lives. Jordan and Tunisia pointed to the intense heat as the reason for the deaths, although the AP was unable to verify this independently. During the second and third days of the Hajj, AP reporters witnessed pilgrims passing out from the blistering temperatures, with some experiencing vomiting and collapsing.
Long histories of fatality and outbreaks of disease have been recorded.
Throughout history, fatalities have been a prevalent occurrence during the Hajj, as more than 2 million individuals have journeyed to Saudi Arabia for the five-day pilgrimage. The event has a long history of fatal stampedes and outbreaks of disease. However, the number counted this year was abnormally elevated. The deadliest incident in the pilgrimage’s history occurred in 2015 when over 2,400 pilgrims lost their lives in a stampede in Mina. Despite the extensive casualties, Saudi Arabia has yet to acknowledge the true toll of the tragedy fully. Another tragedy struck earlier that year when a crane collapsed at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, resulting in the deaths of 111 individuals.
Also, the Saudi National Center for Meteorology reported that temperatures in Mecca and nearby sacred sites during this year’s Hajj season reached up to 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit). As a result, individuals experienced fainting spells while participating in the symbolic Ritual of stoning the devil. In 2024, over 1.83 million Muslims participated in the Hajj. Among them were 1.6 million individuals from 22 different countries, along with about 222,000 Saudi citizens and residents, as reported by the Saudi Hajj authorities. Ensuring the safety of the millions of participants attending the annual five-day pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia has been a challenging task despite the billions of dollars spent on crowd control and safety measures.
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There is a possibility of increased risk due to climate change. According to a study conducted in 2019 by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, even if efforts are made to reduce the impact of climate change, the pilgrimage could face dangerously high temperatures from 2047 to 2052 and 2079 to 2086. The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle, causing the Hajj to occur approximately 11 days earlier each year. The Hajj pilgrimage is forecasted to take place in April starting in 2029, with subsequent years seeing it shifting to the winter season for more pleasant weather conditions.