More than 300 Egyptians die in heat during Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, diplomats say

At least 323 Egyptian pilgrims died Hajj journey In western Saudi Arabia, most of them died of heat-related illnesses, two Arab diplomats coordinating their country's response told AFP on Tuesday.

“All of them died from the heat” except for one who was seriously injured in a minor crowd injury, a diplomat said, adding that the total number came from a hospital morgue in Makkah's al-Muaysem area.

At least 60 Jordanians also died, diplomats said, up from an official figure of 41 given by the Jordanian government on Tuesday.

According to an AFP tally, the new deaths bring the total reported so far in various countries to 577. Diplomats said a total of 550 people died at the al-Muwaisem morgue, one of the largest in Mecca.

Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once by all Muslims who are able.

Pilgrimages are increasingly affected by climate change, according to a Saudi study published last month, which said temperatures in areas where religious ceremonies are held are rising by 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.72 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade.

According to Saudi authorities, about 1.8 million pilgrims participated in the Hajj this year, 1.6 million of them from abroad.

Every year thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform the Hajj without an official visa to save money, an even more dangerous venture because these book-less pilgrims cannot access the air-conditioned facilities provided by the Saudi authorities along the Hajj route.

A diplomat who spoke to AFP on Tuesday said the Egyptian death toll had increased “absolutely” due to the large number of unregistered Egyptian pilgrims.

Earlier this month, Saudi officials said they had cleared hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca ahead of Hajj.

Other countries that have reported deaths during Hajj this year include Indonesia, Iran and Senegal.