Why have so many pilgrims died in Mecca – DW – 06/20/2024

Arab social networks have been flooded with shocking images from Saudi Arabia this week. There are photos and videos showing pilgrims collapsed on the side of the road or in wheelchairs, apparently close to death or already dead.

On their way to Mecca, they wear the traditional white clothing of pilgrims and their faces are covered. In many images, corpses appear abandoned, possibly in the same place where they fell.

What began as a rumor on social media was confirmed over the weekend: Hundreds of pilgrims have died in Saudi Arabia, apparently from extreme temperatures or a lack of shelter and water.

bulk temperature

Temperatures in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, rose to 51.8 degrees. About 1.8 million Muslims were expected to attend one of the world’s largest religious gatherings. The pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the five pillars of Islam, and every Muslim who can do it must do it at least once in their life.

The death toll has exceeded a thousand, according to news agency AFP, which has been counting deaths through various sources and countries in recent days.

The governments of Egypt, Indonesia, Senegal, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, India and Tunisia have confirmed the deaths of pilgrims from those countries. Possibly more than 300 came from Egypt. For its part, the Indonesian Health Ministry also reported the deaths of more than 140 citizens.

In recent years, Saudi authorities have attempted to take measures to reduce the effects of high summer temperatures on visitors by providing misting stations and water dispensers. Despite this, it is believed that most deaths are probably heat-related. Many pilgrims who travel to Mecca are elderly, as this is something they want to do before they die.

Search for missing people continues

The death toll could continue to rise. Friends and family are continuing to search in Saudi hospitals or call for help on social networks to try to find loved ones who had arrived in Mecca but are now missing.

“To be honest, this year’s pilgrimage has been embarrassing,” Ihlasa, a pilgrim from Aswan in southern Egypt who prefers to withhold her full name, told DW via WhatsApp message. “It was very difficult, especially during the stone-throwing. People were falling to the ground.”

And part of the ritual involves pilgrims throwing stones at the three walls, a symbolic way of “stoning the devil.” “The distance to throw the stones was really long, the sun was strong and it was very hot,” says Ihalsa.

whose fault is it?

In the pilgrims’ countries of origin, there is heated debate over who is to blame for what happened. To get to Mecca, pilgrims need an official permit from Saudi Arabia to enter the country. Since there are more Muslims than there can be, Saudi Arabia introduces a quota system every year. Previously, there were problems with overcrowding and extreme heat.

Trips to Saudi Arabia are usually organised through travel agencies, often linked to Muslim communities or mosques in the pilgrims’ country of origin. The agencies arrange for accommodation, food and transport to Mecca. Some victims’ families accuse Saudi authorities or their own country’s authorities of not making adequate arrangements or providing adequate shelter to escape the extreme heat.

Other voices blame those who made the pilgrimage to Mecca without registering. Saudi director of public security Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Bassami said earlier this week that more than 171,000 unregistered pilgrims had been identified in the country.

Saudi security services previously launched a campaign to detain anyone making illegal pilgrimages. Unregistered pilgrims cannot use the same facilities – air conditioning, water, shade and misting or cooling centers – as registered pilgrims, which can also lead to casualties.

“There were no shops for everyone”

DW was able to speak to an official from a private Egyptian tourism company that has been taking Egyptian pilgrims to Mecca for several years and who was in Saudi Arabia this week. The manager did not want to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

“Everyone did what they wanted and everything was poorly organized. Also, there were not enough shops for everyone,” he told DW by phone, assuring that there was no stampede. “People were happy to be on Mount Arafat,” he says.

The person in charge of the pilgrimage explains, “My opinion is that when people realized how hot it was and the intensity of the sun, they should have avoided going to the top.” It can be done on a lower slope.

“Pilgrims have to be better educated and more aware,” he adds. “The state has obligations and responsibilities. But the behaviour of some (pilgrims) shows a lack of awareness. And by that I mean a lack of knowledge about how to perform rituals. For example, the (Saudi) state makes it so that umbrellas cannot be placed on top of Mount Arafat.

(MS/RML)