More than 2,000 people suffered heat stress during the great Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, where temperatures reached 48ºC, the authorities of this country announced on Thursday.
“The number of cases of heat stress since the beginning of the day it reached 1,721,” the Saudi Ministry of Health said.
The figure is added to the 287 cases previously announced.
Heat stress refers to the discomfort that occurs in the human body from temperature imbalances and can include heart attacks, exhaustion, cramps, and skin rashes.
The actual number of heat stress cases could be much higheras many people were not admitted to health facilities during the largest hajj pilgrimage since the coronavirus pandemic.
The hajj, which began on Sunday, brought together more than 1.8 million this week of faithful under high temperatures, which on Tuesday reached 48 ºC.
Hash is one of the five pillars of Islam which every Muslim with sufficient resources must fulfill at least once in their life.
Rituals are performed over four days in Mecca and its surroundings, in western Saudi Arabia, one of the hottest regions in the world.
Although the Saudi authorities did not report any deaths During the pilgrimage, different countries reported at least 230 deaths, without specifying the causes of death.
Indonesian consul general said 209 Indonesians died during the ritual, the majority due to heart disease, heart attacks, strokes and respiratory problems.
A dozen Iranian faithful also died during the pilgrimageindicated the Iranian press agency Fars.
Eight Algerians and four Moroccans They suffered the same fate, according to the authorities of those countries.
And an Egyptian pro-government media outlet reported eight deaths among its own nationals.
