Update: More Than 1,000 Muslims Die During This Year’s Hajj Pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia

Earlier this week it was reported hundreds of Muslims died at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia

However, according to an update, more than 1,000 Muslims (and counting) have died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia likely due to extreme heat.

Nearly 2 million Muslims make the mandatory pilgrimage to Mecca every year.

At least 1,000 Muslims died during this year’s pilgrimage amid soaring temperatures. Temps reached 125 degrees Fahrenheit at the Grand Mosque in Mecca this week.

Saudi officials however are staying tight-lipped and refuse to disclose what led to the unusually high number of deaths.

In years past, Muslims have died at the Grand Mosque from stampedes and epidemics. Many are speculating the soaring temps led to the deaths during the five-day Hajj.

Family members lined up at a medical facility near the Grand Mosque to identify their deceased loved ones.

AFP reported:

The death toll from this year’s hajj has exceeded 1,000, an AFP tally said Thursday, more than half unregistered worshippers who performed the pilgrimage in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia.

The new deaths reported Thursday included 58 from Egypt, according to an Arab diplomat who provided a breakdown showing that of 658 Egyptians who died, 630 were unregistered pilgrims.

Around 10 countries have reported 1,081 deaths during the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam which all Muslims with the means must complete at least once.

The hajj, whose timing is determined by the lunar Islamic calendar, fell again this year during the oven-like Saudi summer.

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