(Amman) At least 14 Jordanian and five Iranian pilgrims died in Saudi Arabia during the great annual hajj pilgrimage, which is held in oppressive heat, their countries’ authorities announced on Sunday without specifying the causes of their deaths.
The annual hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, began Friday in Mecca, western Saudi Arabia, with the participation of more than 1.8 million worshipers, most of them from from abroad.
This year it is taking place in the middle of summer, in one of the hottest regions in the world where the thermometer reached 46 degrees on Saturday.
“Fourteen Jordanian pilgrims died and 17 others went missing while performing hajj rituals,” Jordan’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, according to a statement carried by the official Petra news agency.
“The ministry is following with the relevant Saudi authorities the procedures for the burial of pilgrims and the transport of the bodies of those whose families wish their bodies to be transferred to the kingdom,” he added, specifying that the search was continuing to find the 17 missing pilgrims.
The head of the Iranian Red Crescent, Pirhossein Koolivand, for his part indicated that “five Iranian pilgrims lost their lives […] in Mecca and Medina during the hajj this year”.
Details of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of these pilgrims were not immediately communicated.
All Muslims are expected to perform the Hajj to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they are able to do so. It consists of a series of rituals performed over four days.
