Around 68 Indian pilgrims died during the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca due to the intense heat, a diplomat informed news agency AFP.
According to a report by AFP on Tuesday, at least 550 individuals have died while on the Hajj pilgrimage. Two Arab diplomats cited by the international news agency stated that 323 of the deceased were Egyptians who succumbed to heat-related illnesses.
Saudi media reports indicated that temperatures reached 51.8 degrees Celsius in the shade at the Grand Mosque in Mecca on Monday. Before the release of the death reports, a Saudi health official informed Reuters that the authorities had not observed any unusual fatalities among Muslim pilgrims despite the extremely high temperatures.
The exact number of deaths in Saudi Arabia has not been officially disclosed, but various countries have reported that some of their pilgrims died from the intense heat in the sacred sites of Mecca, including Jordan and Tunisia, according to a report from the Associated Press. Stringent security measures were observed at the medical complex in Mecca.
An official announced the names of the deceased and their nationalities, which included individuals from Algeria, Egypt, and India. Only those claiming to be relatives of the deceased were allowed to enter the medical complex.
The Hajj, a yearly pilgrimage, commenced on Friday. Millions of Muslims travelled to Mecca to carry out religious ceremonies established by the Prophet Mohammad for his followers 14 centuries ago.
The mass gathering, a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for able-bodied Muslims, concluded on Wednesday.
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