1000+ Deaths And Mismanagement During Hajj
Hajj is considered the most important duty of Muslims, Hajj is a duty that every able-bodied Muslim must perform at least once in his lifetime. Every year millions of Muslims travel to Saudi Arabia to perform this religious duty. According to the Saudi authorities, about 1.8 million people performed Hajj this year, of which 1.6 million came from foreign countries.
However, this year, dozens of pilgrims, including Pakistanis, have died due to the extreme heat and mismanagement of facilities during the largest religious gathering of Muslims. Oman has officially confirmed the death of 41 pilgrims so far. Earlier, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry confirmed that at least six Jordanians had died of heatstroke during the Hajj.
According to the BBC Arabic Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Jordanian Consulate of Foreign Affairs have permitted 41 Jordanian pilgrims to be buried in Mecca at the request of their families. It has also been reported that these people were not part of the official Hajj delegation sent by Jordan.
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The Jordanian embassy also said that 84 of the 106 Jordanian pilgrims are still missing. Director of Pakistan Hajj Mission Abdul Wahab Soomro has confirmed the death of 35 Pakistani pilgrims while talking to BBC. He said that 26 of these deaths occurred in Makkah before Hajj, while nine people died during Hajj.
However, he did not give details about the causes of death of these persons. The Tunisian news agency Tunis Afriq Press has reported that 35 Tunisian citizens have died during Hajj.
It should be noted that the Saudi authorities had warned on Monday that the temperature in Makkah could rise to 50 degrees Celsius as soon as this year’s Hajj rituals are over. In a post on the X platform, the Saudi Ministry of Health advised pilgrims to ‘carry an umbrella to avoid heat and drink plenty of water’ between 11 am and 4 pm on Sunday 2764 patients Were damaged due to heat and not following instructions.
According to Saudi state TV, the temperature in Mecca soared to 51.8 degrees Celsius (125.2 Fahrenheit) on Monday. According to the news agency Reuters, the relatives of the deceased said on social media that most of these deaths were due to extreme heat. It is also said that relatives are still searching for missing relatives in Saudi hospitals.
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The Senegalese press agency reported on Monday that three Senegalese citizens have died due to heat stroke during Hajj. France’s Le Monde newspaper claimed yesterday that 136 Indonesian citizens died during Hajj, three of which were attributed to sunstroke. The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Barhsin Kolivand, has said that five Iranian pilgrims have died during the Hajj rituals in Mecca and Medina this year. However, he did not explain the reason.
A 2019 study in Geophysical Research Letters said climate-change-induced temperature increases in Saudi Arabia would put pilgrims at ‘extreme risk’. It should be remembered that during the past 30 years in Saudi Arabia, hundreds of deaths have occurred in stampedes, fires in tents, and other accidents during Hajj.
A Jordanian government official has announced that ‘the departure of pilgrims from Jordan outside the regulatory framework is being investigated.’ It is overseeing the burial process of pilgrims who died of sunstroke due to extreme heat during the ritual Hajj. The Saudi authorities are providing them with the necessary medical assistance and some of them are in better condition while others are in critical condition.
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It added that the ministry is continuing its efforts to trace the 22 missing pilgrims and ensure their return at the earliest. “The death toll of Jordanian pilgrims is expected to rise and the final number will be announced soon,” a ministry official told BBC Arabic. The Jordanian Ministry of Endowments, Islamic Affairs, and Holy Places confirmed to the BBC that the Jordanian pilgrims on the official mission were ‘all well.’ Among the casualties and damage were those who attempted to perform the Hajj rites through (tourist visas).
The French news agency AFP has claimed concerning two Arab diplomats that at least 550 people have died due to extreme heat during Hajj, most of them from Egypt. AFP quoted two Arab diplomats as claiming that most of the deaths were caused by the heat and that 323 of the dead were from Egypt, while 60 were Jordanians.
The news agency AFP has claimed that according to its data, a total of 577 pilgrims from different countries have died on the occasion of Hajj this year.
How are those killed during Hajj buried?
Every year in Saudi Arabia, Hajj pilgrims die due to various reasons, including extreme heat, being trampled by crowds, falling ill, or road accidents. In such a case, the government of Saudi Arabia takes all responsibility for the identification of the deceased, burial, and other steps.
Saudi Arabia’s Hajj Law clearly states that if a person dies while performing Hajj, his body is not sent back to his country, but his burial is done in Saudi Arabia.
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Every Hajj prepares for Hajj by filling out a Hajj application form in which they acknowledge that if they die on the land or in the air of Saudi Arabia, they will be buried there. If an objection is raised by the party, it will not be considered.
The family of the deceased cannot bring his dead body to his native country nor can they make any recommendation to the Saudi government. Any such request is not acceptable to the Saudi government.
If a pilgrim dies in an accident at home or on the road or in a hospital in Saudi Arabia, it is first reported to the Hajj Mission of the country concerned in Saudi Arabia.
Many times the hospital authorities or the general public provide this information directly to the Hajj Mission. It also depends on where and how the person died.
Some basic information such as the deceased’s name, age, agency, nationality, and identity card number can be obtained from the identification band on the wrist or neck which is mandatory for all pilgrims to wear.
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From this basic information, the identity of the deceased is verified, while if there is a relative or close person with the deceased pilgrim, they also identify the deceased.
The Hajj Mission then informs the family of the deceased and the Ministry of Hajj in Saudi Arabia, while this information is also updated on the website.
If the family of the deceased wants to come to Saudi Arabia to pay the last visit to the deceased, this is not possible, but if they are present in Makkah, then they get the opportunity to attend the last visit to the deceased and attend the funeral.
After identification of the deceased, a certified doctor’s certificate or death certificate can be obtained from the nearest hospital, Hajj office, or medical center. The Saudi government issues the death certificate to the respective country’s Hajj mission and then the death certificate is obtained from the country’s Hajj office.
After the body is identified and the death certificate is issued, the process of bathing and burial of the deceased begins.
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If a pilgrim dies during his stay in Makkah, Mina, and Muzdalifah, his funeral prayer is offered in Masjid al-Haram or Kaaba Sharif.
And if he dies in Madinah, the funeral prayer is performed in the Prophet’s Mosque. Also, if a pilgrim dies in Jeddah or elsewhere, his funeral prayer is offered in the local mosque.
“We came here for important ceremonial days, but we were treated like animals.”
BBC has tried to know about the conditions and arrangements there by talking to the public and private Hajj pilgrims from Pakistan.
Amina (pseudonym), 38, from Islamabad, who is among the official Hajj pilgrims with her husband, is “depressed” with the Hajj arrangements, she says.
Speaking to BBC from Makkah, he has said that there is no doubt that the accommodation, food, etc. in the buildings are very good, and transport is available, but we came here for the days of important meetings, but these days They treated us like animals.’
The five days we spent in Mina were excruciating, she says. Our school had four to five men’s tents and the same number of women’s tents, each of which housed around 800, 800 people. She says that for such a large number, there were only six to eight washrooms for women and the same number for men.
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Regarding the conditions inside the tents, Amina says that in the heat of Mecca, there were no ACs, and most of the time there was no water in the coolers installed. Live and had a bad fate.’
Regarding the food arrangements, she says that ‘it was fine, they used to bring it in bags, but it looked like animals were brought and thrown away. It was the same feeling.’
Amina says that there is no doubt that the temperature was too high, but she expressed more frustration with the Saudi government’s arrangements.
She says that if you want to go from one place to another, the distance is one kilometer, then the Saudis take you to this place by driving five kilometers in the heat instead of this one kilometer.
She says that Saudi officials don’t listen, talking to them is like banging your head against a wall, they don’t even know how to tell right-left and right-left in English.
Amina, while talking about the mismanagement during the Hajj, said that Muzdalifah was like a dark room where there was no electricity or water and there was so much disorder that the Arabs would close the doors whenever they wanted, and open the doors when they wanted.
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She says that the place that was given to Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh was a deep place between two mountains, and thinks what will be the conditions there at night when the mountains release their gas and heat energy? She says that many people were suffocated there.
Amina says that the conditions of the washrooms were worst and people were sleeping outside the washrooms in such heat.
She says that many people who came with her have said that they saw dead bodies on their way back from Muzdalifah.
Regarding the arrangements of trains, he said that there were arrangements for trains, but in summer you go through agony in reaching and getting off the stations and if 38-year-old people like me were in agony, think what would happen to the weak people.
She says that in Muzdalifah she suffered from suffocation and her condition was very bad. Allah Mian, let me leave here after performing the Fajr prayer.
Amina says that it took many hours for those who returned from Mina to return and these tired pilgrims were not taken to the nearest place from the accommodation. ‘
She says that taxi fares are too high for one kilometer, and taxi drivers were asking for 2000 riyals from Mani to Makkah.
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Regarding first aid, they say that they carry the vehicles around but they don’t even know how to apply a drip.
Amna says that one person in her group was claustrophobic (persons who suffer from panic in crowded places). He started breathing when he saw the rush in Jamrat. They don’t even understand the meaning of ‘Yala Haji, Tariq’.
She says that she needed oxygen and emergency treatment was available in Jamrat, but on her return, her condition worsened and we asked the Saudis for an ambulance sitting on the bank of the stark, but they just kept saying ‘Call them, call them’. Finally, an ambulance came and the doctor didn’t even look for two seconds and said ‘Nothing happened to them’ and left.
Amina says that more than 25 minutes have passed, on this occasion, we threatened them that we will make videos and tell them on social media how you are treating the Hajis, so they did not even make videos, and then too late. Later they found an ambulance.
“Saudi officials don’t care about you or help you,” she says.
Amina says that the tents Pakistanis were at the end of Arafat, it was written there “This is the end of Arafat” and it was very difficult to walk, but she says that the arrangements in Arafat were very good.
He said that I had paid eleven and a half lakhs for 25 days and it is not a small amount. Pilgrims like me also pay the expenses of volunteers who go through NTS but they sit in the reception of the bus building. During the days of Mushair, not a single one was there to help and they just said that everything is the responsibility of the Saudi government.
She says that of course the arrangements are made by the Saudi government, but the officials of the Pakistani ministry are our representatives before them and are responsible for the arrangements.
She says that after seeing the bad manners and the way Saudis and Pakistanis treat Pakistanis, I will never advise anyone to perform Hajj officially. How can you worship if you are not at rest and peace of mind?’
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“Put on a seven-kilometer-long road where there was no water and no shade”
Humira Kanwal (who is in Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj) said that on the day we were taken from Mina to Arafat field, we started getting news of the deaths of pilgrims, that deaths were due to heat. The camps built there had very limited seating, no provision for delivering the Hajj sermon, and in the scorching heat people had to sit outside or fight to get inside.
Speaking to the BBC from Makkah, Humira says that Muzdalifah is supposed to spend the night under the sky, but pilgrims from many other countries, including Pakistan, were taken to a dirt-filled place under a train bridge.
After spending the night in Muzdalifah, he was taken by train to Jamrat the next morning, but the return journey from there became extremely painful. Humira says that we were put on a seven-kilometer-long road where there was no water and no shade. Many pilgrims became ill at this point.
‘People were kept like animals in the camps’
Humira explains that the Saudi government has many electric and manual vehicles, but these were not being used for pilgrims who were sick and fainting from the heat.
“People were housed in the camps like chickens or animals on a farm, with no space to pass between beds and a few washrooms for hundreds of people.”
However, she says that you can neither complain to anyone nor seek help, everyone is used to shifting the responsibility on the other.
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According to Humira, ambulances appeared to be non-existent here, with no help on long routes. If anyone is visible, they are policemen who do not even know English and whose only job seems to be to put people on long routes.
She says that pilgrims were made to walk for several hours during the hot summer months only because the police had erected barricades on the short route.
Humira says that she had to walk 26 km to and fro from Mani to Thursday yesterday, while the route was 15 minutes which was blocked by the police.
She says that ‘here the policemen, whether they are women or men, hesitate to even raise their hands on her.’
“The worst situations are in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.”
Regarding the condition of the tents, Humira says that there were ACs in the tents but it was suffocating due to the large number of women on which fighting was seen throughout the day.
According to Humira, a Saudi official told her that ‘the Pakistani government is telling you wrongly that we have placed the category here.’ Can’t do anything, talk to them yourself.
However, Saudi camp managers say that this is what we have the facilities to live in.
Humira says that during this Hajj trip, she had the opportunity to pass through camps in different countries, and ‘the worst conditions here are Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. are sitting.’
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She says that today is the last day of Hajj and I am wondering why the issue of cleanliness has been neglected so much in the fulfillment of such a great duty in the religion in which purity and cleanliness are the first prerequisites.
‘Saudis are controllers, not facilitators’
Muhammad Ala is a Hajj organizer of a private group. Speaking to the BBC, he says that this is my 18th Hajj and in my experience, Saudis are controllers, not facilitators. They control but do not facilitate.
According to Muhammad Aala, a common pilgrim may have to walk at least 15 kilometers per day in addition to the Tawaf-e-Ziyarat in this heat, in which he may suffer from heat stroke due to heat and exhaustion and water is not available in some places. .
He explains that in the earlier years, the roads leading to the schools were open, but now all the roads and roads have been closed, making a common pilgrim have to walk a lot even if his tent zone is closed. Even though one is in A category, he has to walk 2.5 km in the heat from the normal route to reach his tent.
Muhammad Aala says that if someone has an emergency on this route, no one will come to you for 30 minutes and there is no provision to save life and there are no water points on such routes.
He said that he had seen videos in which the bodies of many Egyptian citizens could be seen, explaining the reason, saying that the visas that Saudi Arabia had issued to them for Umrah were too long, so they stopped and performed illegal Hajj.
Muhammad Aala says, “Since these Egyptian citizens performed Hajj illegally, they did not have any facilities like tents, so they had to live under the open sky in the heat.”
He says that a second language is also a big problem, but government scouts are present in Pakistani camps to solve it, if a pilgrim goes on a wrong route in summer, they have no responsibility.
According to Muhammad Ala, Mini’s A (Alpha) and B (Bravo) camps accommodate 16-32 people with AC facilities.
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The subsequent categories C (Charlie) and D (Delta) tents accommodate up to 40 people with desert coolers that work but sometimes break down.
He said that A and B camps have 16-32 people for whom AC facility is available.
However, he said that the sheets on these camps built in 1998 or 2000 are fireproof, but they are exposed to direct sunlight.
Muhammad Aala says that with every group we have leaders who are always together. We ourselves are very vigilant and we have kept private buses and 12,12-ton chillers running for our pilgrims in Arafat camps.
He explains that his 240 pilgrims were in the B category for which six chillers were running and in the A category for 78 persons six five-ton cabins were running so our whole group was in a very comfortable condition and we had no heat. No situation has been faced in this regard.
What is Hajj?
In Islam, Hajj is a duty that Muslims must perform at least once in their lifetime. The Hajj journey is believed to give Muslims the opportunity to atone for their sins and attain purity before God.
Every year on the 8th to 12th of the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah, Muslims come to visit the city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia and perform the special worship there. It is called Hajj.
On the first day of Hajj after donning Ihram and Miqat, pilgrims perform Umrah in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
After Tawaf, Muslims perform Sa’i by walking between the hills of Safa and Marwah. The pilgrims then proceed to Mina and spend the night in worship.
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The next day the pilgrims proceed to Arafat plains where they spend the afternoon. During their stay, pilgrims climb the hill of Jabal al-Rahma – the place where the Prophet of Islam gave his last sermon.
As soon as the sun sets, the pilgrims start walking towards Muzdalifah. On the third day, pilgrims perform the final circumambulation, followed by the Rumi of Jamrat and the sacrifice of animals in the name of God.
According to the Saudi authorities, more than 1.8 million pilgrims performed Hajj this year as of 2023, of which 1.6 million came from foreign countries.
news source: bbc
