Over 1,300 pilgrims died while performing this year, Health Minister Fahad bin Abdurrahman al-Jalajel said on Sunday.
In statements carried by the Saudi state news agency SPA, Jalajel said that 83% of those who died were not .
“[They] walked long distances under the sunlight, with no adequate shelter or rest,” Jalajel described the unregistered pilgrims. “They included a number of elderly and chronically sick.”
Saudi minister says Hajj season ‘successful’
Jalajel defended the Saudi organization of this Hajj season, which has come . But the Saudi minister said the management of the pilgrimage was “successful.”
He added that Saudi health authorities “provided more than 465,000 specialized treatment services, including 141,000 services to those who didn’t obtain official authorization to perform hajj.”
Still, many are questioning the unusually large number of pilgrims who died during the event.
Temperatures in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, rose to 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) during the course of the annual event, .
Some who facilitated Hajj journeys for an overly large number of pilgrims, saying they provided them with illegal visas. Such pilgrims have been described by Saudi Arabia as “unauthorized.”
rmt/dj (AFP, Reuters)
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