2024-06-19T16:37:00+03:00 Events 2024-09-15T04:19:10+03:00

Ukrainian news

Nearly 600 Muslims killed by heat during pilgrimage to Mecca

Nearly 600 Muslims killed by heat during pilgrimage to Mecca

The intense heat caused the death of nearly 600 people who arrived in Saudi Arabia to participate in the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

This was reported by the AFP agency, citing statements from several countries that reported casualties.

According to two unnamed Arab diplomats, at least 323 of the dead were Egyptian citizens.

"All of them died from the heat, except for one who received fatal injuries during a small stampede," said one of the diplomats.

It is also known that among the dead were 40 Jordanian citizens. There is currently no information on the citizenship of the other victims.

The Hajj is an annual Muslim pilgrimage involving a visit to Mecca and several sacred sites on its outskirts (Mount Arafat, Muzdalifah Valley, and Mina).

Pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the most important events in the life of Muslims. For this reason, millions of people visit Saudi Arabia every year.

According to the authorities of Saudi Arabia, about 1.8 million people are participating in the pilgrimage to the holy city for Muslims this year.

At that, the temperature in the main mosque for Muslims, Al-Haram, reached almost 52 degrees Celsius, which causes severe overheating. Because of this, Hajj is almost regularly accompanied by the death of people due to heat or crowding.

In 2023, 240 people died in Mecca during the Muslim pilgrimage.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in January 2022, a record heat for 70 years was set in Australia. The air temperature was 50.7 degrees Celsius.

We will remind, in July 2021, the air temperature in Kuwait rose above 70 degrees Celsius. Because of this, cars and traffic lights melted on the street.