Relatives search for missing pilgrims after hajj heat deaths

Friends and families of missing pilgrims searched hospitals and asked for news online on Wednesday, fearing the worst after hundreds died during annual rites in Saudi Arabia.

Arab diplomats told AFP on Tuesday that at least 550 pilgrims had died this year, the majority from heat-related illnesses after temperatures reached 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) in Mecca, the holiest city in Islam.

The total number of deaths stands at 645 to date, according to an AFP count based on figures published by different countries. Around 1.8 million people attended the pilgrimage.

Mabrouka bint Salem Shushana, from Tunisia, aged around 60, has been missing since the climax of Saturday's pilgrimage to Mount Arafat, her husband Mohammed told AFP on Wednesday.

Because she was not registered and did not have an official permit for the hajj, she was unable to access the air-conditioned facilities that allow pilgrims to cool off after hours of outdoor prayers, Mohammed said. .

“She's an old lady. She was tired. She was so hot and she had no place to sleep,” he said. “I've looked for her in every hospital. So far I have no idea.”

He's far from the only one in desperate need of information.

Facebook and other social media sites have been flooded with photos of missing people and requests for information.

Among the searchers are the 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 on Facebook any message that could help find or trace her,” said a Saudi-based family friend, who requested anonymity. so as not to get angry. Saudi authorities.

“The good news is that so far we have not found her on the dead list, which gives us hope that she is still alive.”

– Scorching heat –

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims who can afford it must perform it at least once.

Its calendar is determined by the Islamic lunar calendar, which advances each year in the Gregorian calendar.

In recent years, the mostly open-air rituals have taken place during the sweltering Saudi summer.

Temperatures in the region are increasing by 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.72 degrees Fahrenheit) every decade, according to a Saudi study released last month.

The figure of 550 dead provided Tuesday by diplomats comes from the morgue of the hospital in the Al-Muaisem district of Mecca, one of the largest in the city.

These are 323 Egyptians and 60 Jordanians, said the Arab diplomats who gave these figures to AFP, one of whom stressed that almost all the Egyptians died “because of the heat”.

Deaths were also confirmed in Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia and the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, although in many cases authorities did not specify the cause.

On Wednesday, an Asian diplomat told AFP that there were “around 68 dead” from India and that others were missing.

“Some died of natural causes and we had many elderly pilgrims. And some were 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 killed, most of them from Indonesia.

– 'No news' –

Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform the hajj through irregular means because 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 do this were the people of the kingdom, and they know the situation,” he said.

“For these types of tourist visas, it’s like being on the migrant route without any idea of ​​what awaits them.”

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 she wanted to go to the public toilet to clean her abaya, but she never returned.

“We searched for her from door to door and haven’t found her until now,” said the friend, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

“We know many who are still looking for their family members and loved ones and don't find them, or if they find them, they find them dead,” the friend added.