Fourteen Jordanians died of heatstroke during the Hajj this year, Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said on June 16, 2024. The ministry blamed “the extreme heat wave” and said its citizens had suffered sunstroke.
Five Iranians have also died in Mecca and Medina so far, according to the Iranian Red Crescent. It gave no cause. That brings the count from the two countries to at least 19.
The deaths were reported as pilgrims carried out the last major ritual, the symbolic “stoning of the devil,” in western Saudi Arabia, and as Muslims elsewhere marked Eid al-Adha. The stoning falls on the first day of the feast and is the riskiest part of the pilgrimage, because large crowds gather for it.
Heat and crowds
The Hajj always falls in the Saudi summer. Temperatures this year have pushed well past 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), and forecasters expected 47 C on Monday. Many rituals are done outdoors and on foot, which is hard going for older pilgrims.
Saudi Arabia has set up climate-controlled areas, handed out water and told pilgrims to shield themselves from the sun. It has also sent military medical units to treat heatstroke and created rapid response teams. A Saudi official told AFP that more than 10,000 heat-related illnesses were recorded last year.
The Saudi General Authority for Statistics puts attendance this year at more than 1.8 million, making the Hajj one of the largest religious gatherings anywhere. Every Muslim with the means and the health is expected to make the trip to Mecca at least once, as one of the five pillars of Islam. The kingdom has spent heavily on infrastructure in recent years to cope with the numbers, and a quota system caps visitors to Mecca.
