Deaths at Saudi Hajj Show Challenge of Shielding Pilgrims from Lethal Climate
Editor
27 June 2024 18:09 WIB
HEAT STROKE RISK
But he acknowledged that unregistered pilgrims "walked long distances under direct sunlight without adequate shelter or comfort", and added that 83% of the 1,301 fatalities were among unregistered pilgrims.
Pilgrims said those without permits had to walk at times in temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), while most registered pilgrims were able to make much of the journey by air-conditioned bus.
A Reuters witness said he saw thousands walking on the highway near Mina, a vast tent city on the way to Mecca, rather than using buses like most registered pilgrims. Pilgrims told Reuters that Saudi officials routinely checked buses before departure to ensure only registered pilgrims were aboard.
Almost two million pilgrims made their way to Mecca this year to perform hajj rites as taught by the Prophet Muhammad to his followers 14 centuries ago.
It is not known how big the influx of unauthorized pilgrims was. But Saudi Director of Public Security Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Bassami said this month the kingdom had deported 171,587 people who were not residents of Mecca, in an apparent reference to people caught trying to perform hajj without a permit.
Heat-related deaths along the hajj are not new, but climate change has made hajj increasingly dangerous.
A 2021 study found that if the world warms by 1.5 C (2.7 F) above pre-industrial levels, the heat stroke risk for pilgrims on the haj will be five times greater. The world is on track to reach 1.5 C of warming in the 2030s.
"It's a situation that is only getting worse with time," said Elfatih Eltahir, co-director of the Jameel Observatory and a professor at MIT, who published a paper on the dangers of heat stress for pilgrims in 2019.
($1 = 3.7517 riyals)
REUTERS
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