(Riyadh) A diplomat told AFP on Wednesday that 68 Indian nationals were among the hundreds of worshipers who died during the hajj, the great Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which took place this year in oppressive heat .
“We have confirmed about 68 deaths […] Some are due to natural causes, we have had many elderly pilgrims. Others are due to weather conditions, that’s what we assume,” said the diplomat from an Asian country in Saudi Arabia, speaking on condition of anonymity.
On Tuesday, two Arab diplomats announced the deaths of 323 Egyptians and 60 Jordanians. Most deaths are linked to heat, one of them said.
This annual rite, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, took place again this year in the middle of summer in one of the hottest regions on the planet.
Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia and Iraqi Kurdistan also reported deaths, most without specifying the cause.
The figures for Indian deaths bring the total number of deaths during the hajj to 645, according to a report established by AFP based on figures announced by the different countries.
Last year, more than 200 pilgrims died, most of them from Indonesia.
Saudi authorities said they treated more than 2,700 pilgrims suffering from heat stress on Sunday alone, but did not provide information on the deaths.
The diplomat who announced the number of deceased Indians also mentioned a certain number of missing people, without providing details.
“This happens every year… We cannot say that this figure is abnormally high this year,” he said.
“It’s a bit similar to last year, but we’ll know more in the coming days,” he added.
More than 1.8 million Muslims participated in the hajj this year, including 1.6 million from abroad, according to Saudi authorities.
The pilgrimage, which takes place over several days in the west of the desert kingdom, is increasingly suffering the effects of climate change, a Saudi study published in May warned that temperatures at sites where the rituals take place are rising by 0.4 degrees Celsius every ten years.
