Hajj heat deaths: 500 Egyptian pilgrims perish in 124-degree temps

CAIRO − Egypt formed a crisis unit on Thursday to investigate the deaths of Egyptians taking part in the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca during extreme heat, after medical and security sources said at least 530 Egyptians had died and 31 were missing.

In recent days hundreds of people from different countries have died in punishing conditions for the hajj pilgrimage in the Saudi Arabian city, where temperatures have at times exceeded 124 degrees.

Record heat is broiling countries across the Northern Hemisphere.

The medical source, who was with the official Egyptian hajj delegation, told Reuters the majority of those who died were not formally registered for the event with the authorities, which meant they could not access tents and take shelter from the punishing sun. The Guardian newspaper reported Thursday that more than 1,000 pilgrims from different countries had died.

In a statement announcing the formation of the crisis unit on the orders of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt's cabinet said 28 deaths had been confirmed from a group of 50,752 officially registered Egyptian pilgrims.

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The Egyptian statement gave no toll for unregistered pilgrims, saying Egypt was seeking an accurate inventory of the dead and missing and was coordinating with Saudi counterparts to arrange for the transfer of bodies.

Companies that had facilitated travel for unregistered pilgrims would be investigated and penalized, the cabinet added.

Dangerous heatwaves are scorching cities on four continents as the Northern Hemisphere marks the first day of summer, a sign that climate change may again bring about record-breaking heat that could surpass last summer as the warmest in 2,000 years.

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Countries around the Mediterranean endured another week of blistering high temperatures that have contributed to forest fires from Portugal to Greece and along the northern coast of Africa in Algeria, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth Observatory.

A Reuters witness in Saudi Arabia said that during the pilgrimage thousands of pilgrims had lain on the streets, exposed to the sun, on the climb to Mount Arafat, one of the integral rituals of the journey.

The bodies of dead pilgrims were later covered with Ihram cloth - a simple garb worn by pilgrims - until medical vehicles arrived, the witness said.

The fifth pillar of Islam, the hajj is mandatory once in a lifetime for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it and is the most significant manifestation of Islamic faith and unity. This year's event, which began last Friday, is expected to draw nearly 2 million pilgrims.

Climate scientists have said rising temperatures pose a growing threat to the event, although heat-related deaths along the hajj are not new, and have been recorded as far back as the 1400s.