Riyadh (AFP) – Severe heat in Saudi Arabia has resulted in the death of 920 pilgrims, including 600 Egyptian citizens.
An Arab diplomat reported that the temperature reached 51.8 degrees Celsius on Monday, leading to the fatalities. Many of those who died were unregistered Egyptian citizens, according to diplomatic sources. Among the deceased, 68 were Indian citizens, with some still missing. Other countries, including Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia, and the Kurdistan region of Iraq, also confirmed the deaths of their pilgrims.
Jordanian authorities are searching for 20 missing pilgrims, with 80 initially reported missing and later found in hospitals.
While Saudi Arabia has not disclosed the number of pilgrim deaths, it did report over 2,700 cases of heat exhaustion on Sunday. The Indian ambassador confirmed some Indian pilgrims are still missing but declined to specify the number.
“This happens every year; we cannot say it is unusually high this year,” an Arab diplomat commented regarding the deaths due to the extreme heat. Following the reports, relatives and families of the missing pilgrims began contacting hospitals and submitting online inquiries.
