In Mecca, a Saudi metropolis, the hajj is mourned by lethal warmth: 577 pilgrims died.
Excessive temperatures have brought on the loss of life of a number of hundred worshipers at present on pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. The loss of life toll attributable to excessive warmth in the course of the hajj, the nice Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, elevated on Tuesday June 18, 2024 with the announcement of 60 new victims by Jordan and 323 by Egypt. The entire variety of hajj deaths reported by international locations now stands at 577, up from 240 final yr, though most don’t specify the precise variety of instances linked to warmth stress.
“All died due to the warmth,” aside from one pilgrim who died after being injured in a crowd,” one of many diplomats mentioned, including that the whole determine got here from the morgue of a hospital within the Al-Muaisem district of Mecca.
This annual ceremony, one of many largest non secular gatherings on this planet, befell once more this yr in the course of summer time in one of many hottest areas on this planet, with temperatures reaching 51.8 levels Celsius within the metropolis the holiest in Islam. Saudi authorities claimed to have handled greater than 2,000 pilgrims affected by warmth stress, however didn’t present data on the deaths.
The authorities haven’t communicated on the variety of instances of hyperthermia this yr. Greater than 10,000 instances have been recorded final yr, together with 10% heatstroke, essentially the most critical case, based on a Saudi official.
On Saturday, the pilgrims had spent the day praying and reciting the Koran at Mount Arafat, the place temperatures reached 46 levels Celsius, earlier than sleeping below the celebs within the Mouzdalifa plain, a number of kilometers from Mina. Regardless of the excessive temperatures, the gathering across the hill the place the Prophet Muhammad is alleged to have delivered his final sermon, the spotlight of the pilgrimage, was held with nice fervor. The hajj is likely one of the 5 pillars of Islam. It have to be carried out by all Muslims at the least as soon as of their life if they’ve the means.
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2024-06-19 17:34:51