BTN News: More than half of the dead among the 1,000-plus killed in a crushing stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia are people who lack the identification and information required to notify their families. The pilgrimage, a mainstay of Islam, has been marred by soaring temperatures topping 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit), fuelled by the summer heat.
As of now, deaths have been reported from 10 countries with Egypt constituting the majority:numbers mentioned in reports include at least 630 out of 658 deaths were from unregistered pilgrims. Severe temperatures caused heatstroke and have aggravated existing illnesses, particularly among people who are not authorized pilgrims for whom cooling facilities are established.
Saudi authorities had tried to bar unauthorized pilgrims from Mecca earlier in the month, but countless people managed to take part in the rituals anyway, braving the harsh weather conditions. The unauthorised group also had no cover alternative, leaving them at risk of even higher temperatures in unofficial tent areas which were not air-conditioned and meant to be made available for registered pilgrims to avoid extreme heat and humidity.
This highlights continuing troubles with looking after the pilgrimage, which is being further compounded by climate change trends driving regional warmth. Even with tens of thousands trying to escape official restrictions on the number of pilgrims allowed, the real challenge remains financial.
Malaysia, Pakistan, India and Jordan, as well as Indonesia, Iran, Senegal both Tunisia have also reported fatalities but in some cases not the exact cause of death. Families and friends are left to search for the missing in a situation of great distress.
While the causes and responses to this tragedy are examined in the short term by authorities and international observers, questions about how to better manage the pilgrimage over the long term in a time of increasingly harsh climate conditions remain unanswered. There is something about these recitations that send shivers down your spine – the whole global Muslim community mourns the death of those killed on this hajj.
