Death toll at Hajj pilgrimage rises to 1,300 amid scorching temperatures
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00:00It's a pious journey that every able Muslim is supposed to make at least once in their
00:05lifetime, but this year more than 1,000 pilgrims are not coming back from Mecca.
00:12Saudi Arabia announced the death toll on Sunday after temperatures in the holy city climbed
00:17as high as 51.8 degrees Celsius.
00:22While the number of deaths reached 1,300, and may God have mercy on and forgive them,
00:2783% of them were unauthorized.
00:30They walked long distances under direct sunlight without adequate shelter or rest.
00:35The fatalities include more than 660 Egyptians, all but 31 of them were unauthorized pilgrims.
00:43On Saturday, Egypt said it had revoked the licenses of 16 travel agencies that help people
00:48make the journey illegally.
00:50Meanwhile Jordan detained several travel agents and Tunisia's religious affairs minister was
00:55sacked over the deaths.
00:59Hajj permits are allocated to countries on a quota system and distributed to individuals
01:04by lottery.
01:06Those who take the unregistered route aim to bypass these restrictions and bring down
01:10costs.
01:12Despite the deaths, Saudi officials described the management of Hajj successful, with 8.1
01:18million pilgrims taking part this year.
01:21For the past several years, the pilgrimage has fallen during the sweltering Saudi summer,
01:26though as it moves forward about 11 days annually, in 2025, Hajj will take place earlier in June
01:33in potentially cooler conditions.