- Social networks are flooded with requests for information.
- Among Egyptians alone, deaths increased to “600”: Arab diplomat.
- Friends, family members touring hospitals in search of missing loved ones.
Friends and family searched for missing pilgrims on Wednesday as the death toll at the annual rituals, which took place in scorching heat, surpassed 900.
Relatives toured hospitals and asked for news online, fearing the worst after temperatures reached 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) in the holy city of Mecca on Monday.
About 1.8 million people from around the world, many of them elderly and infirm, participated in the multi-day, mostly outdoor pilgrimage, held this year during the Saudi summer, resembling a oven.
An Arab diplomat said AFP that deaths among Egyptians alone had risen to “at least 600”, from more than 300 the previous day, mainly due to the unrelenting heat.
That figure brings the total number of deaths reported so far to 922, according to a AFP Count of figures published by various countries.
Mabrouka bint Salem Shushana of Tunisia, in her 70s, has been missing since the climax of the pilgrimage Saturday to Mount Arafat, her husband Mohammed said. AFP On Wednesday.
Because she was unregistered and did not have an official permit for the hajj, she was unable to access air-conditioned facilities that allow pilgrims to cool off, she said.
“She's an older lady. She was tired. She was very hot and had nowhere to sleep,” he said. “I looked for her in all the hospitals. Until now I have no idea.”
Facebook and other social networks have been flooded with photographs of the missing and requests for information.
Among those seeking news are family and friends of Ghada Mahmoud Ahmed Dawood, an Egyptian pilgrim missing since Saturday.
“I received a call from her daughter in Egypt begging me to post any Facebook post that might help track her or find her,” said a family friend based in Saudi Arabia, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to upset her. Saudi authorities.
“The good news is that so far we have not found her on the death list, which gives us hope that she is still alive.”
Scorching heat
The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and every Muslim with the means must perform it at least once.
Its date is determined by the Islamic lunar calendar, which advances each year in the Gregorian calendar.
Over the past few years, primarily outdoor rituals have dwindled during the sweltering Saudi summer.
According to a Saudi study published last month, temperatures in the area rise by 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.72 degrees Fahrenheit) every decade.
In addition to Egypt, deaths have also been confirmed in Jordan, Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia and the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, although in many cases authorities have not specified the cause.
A second Arab diplomat said AFP On Wednesday, Jordanian officials were searching for 20 missing pilgrims, although another 80 who were initially reported missing were located in hospitals.
An Asian diplomat said AFP There were “around 68 dead” from India and others were missing.
“Some (died) of natural causes and we had many elderly pilgrims. And some are due to weather conditions, that's what we assume,” he said.
Saudi Arabia has not provided information on deaths, although it reported more than 2,700 cases of “heat exhaustion” on Sunday alone.
Last year, more than 200 pilgrims were reported dead, most of them from Indonesia.
'No news'
Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform the Hajj through irregular channels as they cannot afford the often expensive official permits.
This has become easier since 2019, when Saudi Arabia introduced a general tourist visa, said Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham.
“Before, the only people who could have done that were the residents of the kingdom, and they know the situation,” he said.
“For these types of tourist visas, it's like being on the migrant route with no idea what to expect.”
One of the Arab diplomats who spoke with AFP On Wednesday he said many of the dead Egyptians were not registered.
Even pilgrims who have official permits can be vulnerable, including Houria Ahmad Abdallah Sharif, a 70-year-old Egyptian pilgrim who has been missing since Saturday.
After praying on Mount Arafat, she told a friend that she wanted to go to a public bathroom to clean her abaya, but she never returned.
“We've searched door to door for her and haven't found her until now,” said the friend, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We know of many who are still looking for their family and relatives and cannot find them, or if they do find them, they find them dead,” the friend added.
