AhlulBayt News Agency: Throngs of tightly packed pilgrims on the annual Hajj pilgrimage struggled as temperatures hit 51.8 degrees Celsius in the shade of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi state TV said, with the searing heat claiming lives.
Twenty-three Tunisian citizens died while on Hajj, Tunisian state news agency Agence Tunis-Afrique-Presse said on Tuesday.
Family members said on social media that deaths were due to extreme heat and some families were still searching for missing relatives in Saudi hospitals.
Six Jordanian citizens died of heat stroke during Hajj, the Jordanian foreign ministry said. It later said the death toll had risen to 14, but it gave no reason for the subsequent deaths.
Eleven Iranians have died and 24 have been hospitalized during the pilgrimage, Iranian state news outlet IRINN said on Tuesday without giving the cause of death.
Three Senegalese citizens also died during Hajj, Agence de Presse Sénégalaise, said on Monday.
One hundred and forty-four Indonesian citizens died during Hajj, according to data the Indonesian health ministry shared with Reuters on Tuesday. The data did not clarify if any of the deaths were due to heat stroke.
Stampedes, tent fires and other accidents have caused hundreds of deaths during Hajj in the past 30 years, forcing the Saudi government to build new infrastructure. The authorities now face new challenges protecting pilgrims from extreme heat.
The Hajj is an annual pilgrimage that millions of Muslims make to holy Mecca with the intention of performing religious rites as taught by the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
More than 1.8 million pilgrims were expected to take part this year, according to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics.
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Twenty-three Tunisian citizens died while on Hajj, Tunisian state news agency Agence Tunis-Afrique-Presse said on Tuesday.
Family members said on social media that deaths were due to extreme heat and some families were still searching for missing relatives in Saudi hospitals.
Six Jordanian citizens died of heat stroke during Hajj, the Jordanian foreign ministry said. It later said the death toll had risen to 14, but it gave no reason for the subsequent deaths.
Eleven Iranians have died and 24 have been hospitalized during the pilgrimage, Iranian state news outlet IRINN said on Tuesday without giving the cause of death.
Three Senegalese citizens also died during Hajj, Agence de Presse Sénégalaise, said on Monday.
One hundred and forty-four Indonesian citizens died during Hajj, according to data the Indonesian health ministry shared with Reuters on Tuesday. The data did not clarify if any of the deaths were due to heat stroke.
Stampedes, tent fires and other accidents have caused hundreds of deaths during Hajj in the past 30 years, forcing the Saudi government to build new infrastructure. The authorities now face new challenges protecting pilgrims from extreme heat.
The Hajj is an annual pilgrimage that millions of Muslims make to holy Mecca with the intention of performing religious rites as taught by the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
More than 1.8 million pilgrims were expected to take part this year, according to the Saudi General Authority for Statistics.
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