Death toll tops 1,000 after hajj marked by extreme heat

Pilgrims desperately tried to cool off in the scorching heat as one of the world's largest religious rituals, Hajj, winds down. Bodies are being counted. Egyptian, Jordanian and other Arab officials have reported dozens of their citizens dead or missing after they made the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Yesterday. We were on our way and we saw corpses along the road lying there covered with a sheet because the temperatures here are just so high. And I'm not talking just about old people. Young people have died too. Around 1.8 million pilgrims took part in the Hajj this year amid temperatures as high as 51°C in the shade at the Grand Mosque, according to Saudi officials. Many of the rituals involved been outdoors for hours in the daytime, and Hajj is a mandatory duty for every capable Muslim. It's a difficult task. You have to exert effort and perform the rituals even in hot and crowded conditions. But to use an umbrella, drink water and pour it over yourself to prevent dehydration. Saudi authorities have reported treating pilgrims suffering from heat stress but have not provided information on. We monitor the weather, we monitor the health of all pilgrims 24/7 from the moment they reach the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We've reached more than 2700 pilgrims who suffered from heat. And this is diseases. Deaths aren't uncommon at the Hajj, with stampedes and epidemics throughout its history. But it's also increasingly affected by climate change, according to a Saudi study published last month. Last year, at least 240 pilgrims were reported dead.