MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Hundreds of people died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced intense high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, officials said Wednesday as people tried to claim their loved ones' bodies.
Saudi Arabia has not commented on the death toll amid the heat during the pilgrimage, required of every able Muslim once in their life, nor offered any causes for those who died.
Already, several countries have said some of their pilgrims died because of the heat that swept across the holy sites at Mecca, including Jordan and Tunisia.
More than 1.83 million Muslims performed the Hajj in 2024, including more than 1.6 million pilgrims from 22 countries, and around 222,000 Saudi citizens and residents, according to the Saudi Hajj authorities.
Saudi Arabia has never acknowledged the full toll of the stampede.
Persons:
Al Saud, King Salman
Organizations:
Associated Press, Public Health, Saudi National Center for Meteorology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Locations:
Mecca, MECCA, Saudi Arabia, Al, Muaisem, Jordan, Tunisia, Mina, Saudi, Algeria, Egypt, India, Medina . Saudi Arabia, Islam, hajj