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More than 550 Hajj pilgrims died of heat wave in Makkah

MAKKAH: At least 577 Hajj pilgrims died in the holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia due to the country’s soaring heat wave in recent days.

The figure, which comes from the hospital morgue in Makkah’s Al Muaisem neighborhood, indicates that at least 550 pilgrims succumbed to the intense heat during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage.

However, reports from multiple countries have brought the total death toll to 577.

Two Arab diplomats, coordinating their countries’ responses, revealed that 323 of the deceased pilgrims were Egyptians, most of whom died from heat-related illnesses.

“All of them (the Egyptians) died because of heat,” one diplomat said, except for one individual who sustained fatal injuries in a minor crowd crush, according to media reports.

The diplomats also reported that at least 60 Jordanians died, adding to the official tally of 41 provided earlier on Tuesday by Amman.

A Saudi study published last month noted that the Hajj pilgrimage is increasingly affected by climate change, with temperatures in the area rising by 0.4°C each decade.

On Monday, temperatures reached 51.8°C at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, according to the Saudi national meteorology center.

Last year, at least 240 pilgrims died, most of them Indonesians.

Pilgrims in Mina, near Makkah, were seen pouring water over their heads and receiving cold drinks and fast-melting ice cream from volunteers to help them stay cool.

Saudi officials advised pilgrims to use umbrellas, drink plenty of water, and avoid sun exposure during the hottest parts of the day.

Some pilgrims reported seeing motionless bodies on the roadside and said that ambulance services seemed overwhelmed at times.

This year, around 1.8 million pilgrims participated in the Hajj, with 1.6 million coming from abroad, according to Saudi authorities.

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I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.

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