“Almost every few hundred meters, there was a body lying and covered with an ihram cloth.” That is how Ahmed, a 44-year-old Indonesian pilgrim, described his walk home from Mecca to CNN.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia put a number on what pilgrims like him had seen. Its government said 1,301 people died during this year’s Hajj, most of them from heat stress. It was the first official count. “The health system addressed numerous cases of heat stress this year, with some individuals still under care,” the statement said. “Regrettably, the number of deaths reached 1,301.”
Temperatures in Mecca reached 52 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit), a record, according to the reporting. The statement said 83 per cent of the dead had made the journey without authorisation. Many of them, it said, walked long distances in direct sun with no proper shelter. Elderly and chronically ill people were among the victims, and all families have now been identified.
Licences and the missing
Saudi Arabia issues 1.8 million Hajj licences a year, and each country gets a quota. Pilgrims who go without a licence, which can cost thousands of dollars, usually miss out on air-conditioned buses and reliable supplies of food and water.
The government said that made the count slower. Identifying the dead was harder, and so was announcing the toll. It insisted that identification, burial and death certificates followed proper procedure.
Ahmed told CNN he saw no health workers and not one ambulance on his route. Every time local residents or groups handed out water, he said, pilgrims overran the distribution at once.
Egypt moves against tour operators
In Cairo, the government announced plans to revoke the licences of 16 Hajj tourism companies accused of arranging unauthorised trips. A cabinet meeting had flagged irregularities, among them incorrect visas and a failure to provide decent accommodation or protection from the heat.
Egypt’s official death toll stands at 31. Reuters and other outlets reported that the real figure could be far higher, with estimates of 500 to 600. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly offered condolences to the families and promised support.
The Hajj follows the Islamic lunar calendar, and this year it fell in scorching weather. Worshippers walk for hours between rituals in and around Mecca. The final toll could still rise, since governments have counted only pilgrims who registered and travelled under their own quotas.
