Pilgrims coming to Mecca-Medina for Haj in Saudi Arabia are suffering from heat. So far 900 people have died during the Haj pilgrimage. Saudi Arabia’s state TV said that the temperature in Mecca’s Grand Mosque reached 51.8 degrees Celsius on Monday. At the same time, more than 900 Haj pilgrims, including 35 Pakistani citizens, have died due to heat so far. Pilgrims arriving in Saudi Arabia for Haj are dying due to heatstroke. Citizens of Iran, India, Indonesia, Egypt and Tunisia are among the dead.
Director General of Pakistan’s Haj Mission Abdul Wahab Soomro said that a total of 35 Pakistani citizens have died till June 18. The temperature in Mecca’s Grand Mosque reached 51.8 degrees Celsius on Monday. Meanwhile, the temperature of the surrounding religious sites has reached 47 degrees Celsius. He also said that some people fainted while trying to symbolically stone the devil.
According to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, most of the dead are Egyptian citizens. Saudi Arabia has reported 600 deaths in Egypt, 144 in Indonesia, 68 in India and 60 in Jordan. It is reported that 1400 people are still missing. However, the Saudi Arabian government has not yet officially released the death toll.
The Hajj season varies each year according to the Islamic calendar. However, this year June was one of the hottest months in the kingdom. The Saudi Arabian government has advised pilgrims not to perform the ‘stoning of the devil’ ritual during the few hours in the scorching heat.
This year, 1,75,000 Indians reached Mecca for Hajj to be held between 12 and 19 June. Kerala’s Hajj Minister Abdur Rahman has written a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the Indian Embassy in Jeddah. He has demanded to take necessary steps for the safety of Indians. About 18 thousand 200 Hajis from Kerala have gone to Saudi Arabia. Minister Abdur Rahman has written that the pilgrims are facing many problems. They had to wait for hours to go to Assisi, 30 km away. Apart from this, the accommodation there was also not arranged properly.
Thousands of pilgrims perform Hajj every year. However, some pilgrims who do not have visas or money also reach Mecca through the wrong route. Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia expelled thousands of unregistered Hajj pilgrims from Mecca. According to Saudi Arabian officials, climate change is affecting Mecca. The average temperature here is increasing by 0.4 degrees Celsius every 10 years. Last year, 240 Hajj pilgrims died during Hajj. Most of them were from Indonesia. This year, about 18 lakh Hajj pilgrims have entered for Hajj. Of these, 16 lakh people are from other countries.
