‘Not enough medics’ to help pilgrims with heat, Hajj witnesses

 

Muslim pilgrims performing the farewell circumambulation or “tawaf,” on Tuesday, circling seven times around the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca.Credit...Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

According to two pilgrims who recently returned from the Hajj, there were insufficient medical personnel and basic amenities to shield participants from the scorching heat in Saudi Arabia last week, which contributed to the official death toll from this year's Hajj pilgrimage rising to more than 1,000.

Witnesses claimed that during the large-scale religious gathering, worshippers passing out and passing by bodies wrapped in white fabric had become commonplace.

 

The Hajj trip to Mecca this year has been held in the midst of unusual weather, with temperatures often rising above average. The precise number of deaths is still unknown and is probably going to increase significantly because national deaths have been announced separately by every nation.

 

Furthermore, more pilgrim deaths are predicted among the unregistered group; governments are only aware of pilgrims who have registered and visited Mecca in order to fulfill their nation's quota.

 

Zirrar Ali, 40, told CNN that during the week he spent performing the Hajj, officials did not give adequate water, shade, or medical help to pilgrims. Ali returned to London on Friday from his trip with his 70-year-old father.

 

"It seems like there are too many people and not enough medics, so they are just waiting for the worst to happen before they will step in," Ali stated, adding that it had become commonplace for individuals to pass out came to be a regularity.

 

“I couldn’t focus on my Hajj when I saw these people suffering,” he added.

 

Ali’s comments were echoed by another witness, 44-year-old Ahmad from Indonesia, who told CNN he saw many people falling ill and even dying from the heat.

 

“Along the way home, I saw many pilgrims who died. Almost every few hundred meters, there was a body lying and covered with an ihrom [white fabric] cloth,” he said.

 

“Every time there is a distribution of water from local residents or certain groups, it is immediately overrun by the pilgrims,” he added, saying that he didn’t see health workers or a single ambulance along the road.

 

Both pilgrims lamented the poor infrastructure and organization of this year’s pilgrimage, especially for those who travelled independently, outside of licensed tour groups.

 

Saudi Arabia requires each pilgrim to acquire one of the 1.8 million available licenses to legally access Mecca. These licenses can cost several thousand US dollars. Unlicensed pilgrims typically don’t travel in organized tour buses with air conditioning or easy access to water and food supplies.

 

Though some pilgrims enjoy luxury, the majority of the pilgrims' day is spent walking outdoors in the intense heat.

 

Ali says that walking for five hours a day is the minimum, but many pilgrims went outside for twelve hours a day.

 

In his opinion, the Saudi authorities ought to have offered greater support, even if the lengthy trek is an essential component of the Hajj experience.

 

"It takes patience to travel eight hours from point A to point B, and that's what's deemed hardship.However, we were never informed that, "If you go ten hours without drinking, that counts as part of the Hajj." Instead, he remarked, "We should be providing comfort and looking after ourselves."

 

Regarding the purportedly insufficient reaction to this year's heat wave, CNN has contacted Saudi officials but has not received a response.

 

The Saudi General Authority for Statistics reports that over 1.8 million people participated in this year's Hajj, one of the biggest religious gatherings in the world.

 

Although pilgrim deaths are not unusual—more than 200 pilgrims died the year before—this year's event is being held in unusually hot weather.

 

According to the Islamic calendar, the Hajj season varies annually and this year it fell in June, which is one of the hottest months in the kingdom.

 

It occurs two months and 10 days after Ramadan ends, during the Islamic month of Dhul-Hijjah. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar and shorter than the Gregorian calendar, the timing of Hajj on the Gregorian calendar shifts slightly each year.