Hajj 2024: Jordan, Tunisia report more heat-related deaths

The death toll from extreme heat during the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, rose Tuesday, with Jordan and Tunisia reporting more fatalities after temperatures hit 51.8 degrees Celsius in Mecca. 

As of Tuesday evening, the total number of reported deaths this year stands at 235, compared with more than 240 last year. Most countries have not specified how many deaths were heat-related. 

The annual pilgrimage, one of the world's largest religious gatherings, unfolded again during the sweltering Saudi summer.

Saudi authorities have reported treating more than 2,000 pilgrims suffering from heat stress but have not provided information on fatalities. Jordan, which had earlier reported 14 deaths from sunstroke, on Tuesday said 41 permits to bury deceased pilgrims in Mecca had been issued.

The official Petra news agency also said an untold number of Jordanian pilgrims were missing and that authorities were trying to locate them and bring them home.

Tunisia's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that 35 pilgrims had died amid a "sharp rise in temperatures" in Saudi Arabia. Neither the Jordanian nor Tunisian statements said precisely how many deaths could be attributed to heat as opposed to other ailments. 

Earlier this week, Indonesia reported 132 deaths among pilgrims, three of which were attributed to heatstroke, and heat was cited as "one of the main reasons" for 13 deaths among pilgrims from Iraq's Kurdistan region. 

Senegal and Iran have also reported deaths without listing a cause.

The pilgrimage is increasingly affected by climate change, according to a Saudi study published last month. It said temperatures in the area where rituals are performed were rising 0.4 degrees Celsius each decade.

Around 1.8 million pilgrims took part this year, 1.6 million of them from abroad, according to Saudi authorities.