Amid scorching temperatures of 51.8°C (125°F), the death toll among Hajj pilgrims has surged past 900. Families frantically searched hospitals and pleaded online for news as over 1,400 reports of missing pilgrims emerged.
The heatwave impacted around 1.8 million pilgrims during this year’s Hajj, which fell in the peak of the Saudi summer. The Egyptian death toll alone has soared to 600, with more than 300 new fatalities reported in a single day, according to an Arab diplomat.
Desperate relatives, including those of Mabrouka bint Salem Shushana, who went missing at Mount Arafat, and Ghada Mahmoud Ahmed Dawood, have been using social media to locate their loved ones. “She’s an old lady. She was feeling so hot, and she had no place to sleep,” said Mabrouka’s husband, Mohammed.
The National Institute for Meteorology notes that temperatures in the area have been rising by 0.4°C per decade, exacerbating conditions for the largely outdoor pilgrimage.
Several countries, including Jordan, Indonesia, and Iran, have confirmed fatalities among their pilgrims. Saudi Arabia has reported over 2,700 cases of heat exhaustion but has yet to provide an official death toll.
The search continues for many missing pilgrims, with hopes diminishing as time passes.
