by After at least 1,300 people died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, witnesses and experts say a combination of scorching temperatures and difficulties with crowd control made the holy event uncomfortable and dangerous.
At Islamic holy sites in Mecca during the annual five-day pilgrimage, temperatures soared as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Witnesses described people vomiting and fainting in the extreme conditions as they tried to perform Hajj rituals around the city.
“People were falling in the streets,” said Muhammed Adnan Chishti, a 37-year-old Islam teacher based in Hong Kong.
He said the closure of streets near Mina, where pilgrims perform rituals symbolizing the stoning of the devil, meant people had to walk for hours in “burning heat”.
“What was supposed to be a 10-minute walk took 3 to 4 hours,” Chishti said, adding that many pilgrims were unaware of the route closure, which authorities had implemented to quell the crowds. managed. The rush left many people on the other side of the road baking in the sun for hours, he said.
“I saw that there was a woman next to me,” Chishti said. “She stayed out of the intense heat. We started pouring water on her to cool down and fed her vitamins, but she fainted. She then vomited on my leg. The situation was terrible.”
Chishti, who traveled alone, said he felt the effects of heat-related illness himself on June 11.
“I was so dizzy I didn’t know what was happening to me,” he said, adding that he still feels some sleepy symptoms, including weakness and dizziness.
More than 1.8 million Muslims made the pilgrimage this year, according to The Associated Press.
Deaths have been reported during the Hajj in recent years, although not always as a result of extreme heat. In 2015, a stampede in Mina killed more than 2,400 people, the AP reported. In other years, pilgrims have been killed in accidents or disease outbreaks, according to the AP.
However, the number of unusual deaths has risen this month over whether authorities took the proper precautions as crowds gathered amid soaring temperatures.
In a statement, Saudi authorities said they responded quickly and provided “effective support to the Hajj security forces to manage and reduce the effects of heat stress.”
The Ministry of Health said that “significant efforts” were made before the Hajj to “raise awareness of the dangers of heat stress and the importance of preventive measures.”
Saudi authorities also said health care providers treated people for heat stress and provided emergency care, including dialysis, cardiac catheterization and open-heart surgeries. More than 30,000 ambulance services and 95 air ambulances were provided, the Ministry of Health said.
Saudi Health Minister Fahd bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel said that 83% of the deaths were unauthorized pilgrims who walked long distances in the heat. Official Hajj permits usually include dorm or hotel accommodation and transportation around Mecca, but many people cannot afford them, costing up to $10,000. As a result, scores of unauthorized pilgrims often make their way without visas or proper registration.
“The health system provided over 465,000 specialized treatment services free of charge, including 141,000 services for those who did not receive official authorization to perform Hajj,” the Ministry of Health said.
Chishti agreed that unauthorized pilgrims were disproportionately affected by the heat because they did not have official travel arrangements or proper accommodations.
“All hotels and dorms had air conditioners and fans. But those who did not have reservations or could not find their allotted hotels were forced to sleep on the streets,” he said. “They didn’t have umbrellas or water bottles. Some people came in without any reservations — they were the ones who really impressed.”
Shakoor Hajat, professor of global environmental health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said risk mitigation for the Hajj is extremely difficult.
“The Hajj is a unique situation in that pilgrims are often elderly and walking for long periods in extreme temperatures,” Hajat said.
Extreme heat can be fatal because it affects the body’s ability to regulate its internal temperature. When the conditions are too hot and humid, the sweat cannot evaporate and the body can no longer cool itself. Heat can also worsen existing health conditions, increasing the risk of heart attacks, respiratory problems and kidney disease.
Groups at increased risk include young children, pregnant women and the elderly.
The recent deaths highlight the difficulties of maintaining some cultural practices and mass gatherings as climate change increases the frequency, intensity and duration of heat waves.
The nature and scale of the Hajj makes it a difficult event to manage, even if authorities do their best to prepare, said Milad Haghani, a senior lecturer in urban mobility, public safety and disaster risk at the University of New South Wales in Australia.
“When it’s an entertainment event, we take action quickly to cancel the event,” Haghani said. “But these have no choice regarding the Hajj. It has to be done in a specific location and city, at a very specific time.”
As the intensity of the extreme heat increases, Haghani added, Saudi Arabia will have to rethink how to keep people safe during the holy pilgrimage. Pilgrims also need to be better informed about the risks.
“The biggest gatherings ever take place in Mecca,” he said, “and there are more Muslims every year.”
Mithil Aggarwal reported from Hong Kong, Denise Chow from New York and Natasha Lebedeva from Washington, DC
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
