Team Blitz India
More than 1,300 pilgrims reportedly died, including 98 from India, in Haj as extreme heat swept across Saudi Arabia and the holy city of Makkah. “Some are because of natural causes and we had many old-age pilgrims. And some are due to the weather conditions, that’s what we assume,” according to a diplomat in Saudi Arabia, who spoke on condition of anonymity, reports AFP.
Saudi Health Minister Fahad Al Jalajel earlier confirmed a total of 1,301 deaths — caused by pilgrims “walking long distances under direct sunlight without adequate shelter or comfort”. The fatalities also included elderly people and those suffering from chronic illnesses, he added according to Khaleej Times. He said 83 per cent those who died were among those people not authorised to make the annual pilgrimage, the minister said Temperatures that hit high of 51.8o c hammered the nearly two million people who flocked the holy city Makkah for this year’s Haj.
