Tag: pilgrimage

How this year’s pilgrimage turned fatal

After at least 1,300 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, witnesses and experts say a combination of scorching temperatures and difficulties with crowd control made the sacred event disorienting and dangerous. At Islamic holy sites in Mecca during the annual five-day pilgrimage, temperatures soared as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Witnesses […]

Picture of Gaza war protest misrepresented as fatalities in hajj pilgrimage

As the death toll from this year’s hajj topped 1,300 amid extreme heat in Saudi Arabia, multiple social media posts misrepresented a photo of an Iranian protest in support of Gaza war victims falsely claiming it shows children killed during the pilgrimage. The image has circulated in media reports since November 2023, months before the […]

Saudi Arabia says deaths during hajj pilgrimage reach over 1,300

The number of deaths during this year’s hajj pilgrimage totalled 1,301 people, Saudi Arabia’s health minister Fahad Al-Jalajel said on Sunday. The minister, quoted by state television, said that deaths were caused by pilgrims “walking long distances under direct sunlight without adequate shelter or comfort”. Fatalities also included a number of elderly people and those suffering […]

More than 1,300 died during Hajj pilgrimage in scorching heat

More than 1,300 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced extreme high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, officials have said. Saudi Health Minister Fahd bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel said that 83% of the 1,301 fatalities were unauthorised pilgrims who walked long distances in soaring temperatures […]

More than 1,000 died during Hajj pilgrimage in scorching heat

More than 1,000 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced extreme high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, officials have said. More than half of the fatalities were people from Egypt, according to two officials in Cairo. Egypt revoked the licences of 16 travel agencies […]

Haj pilgrimage threatened as hundreds perish in heat

STORY: Nearly 2 million Muslims will complete the haj pilgrimage this week, but extreme heat has been fatal for hundreds who started the journey last Friday, to the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. According to reports, at least 562 people have died during the haj. Egypt has reported 307 deaths and 118 missing, with temperatures […]