600 Egyptian pilgrims confirmed dead in Saudi Arabia

Arriving Muslim pilgrims walk at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca on June 4, 2024 ahead of the annual hajj pilgrimage. (Photo by Abdel Ghani BASHIR / AFP)

No fewer than 600 Egyptian pilgrims have been confirmed dead during the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

This is as friends and family yesterday continued to search for missing Egyptian pilgrims. An Arab diplomat said at least 600 Egyptian pilgrims died during the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage in the holy land.

This was after Arab officials earlier reported a figure of at least 323 Egyptian deaths at the annual rituals.

The deaths were linked to the searing heat that reached 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, June 17.

Even pilgrims who have official permits can be vulnerable. Houria Ahmad Abdallah Sharif, a 70-year-old Egyptian pilgrim, has been missing since Saturday. After praying on Mount Arafat, she told a friend she wanted to go to a public bathroom to clean her abaya, but she never came back.

“We’ve searched for her from door to door and we have not found her,” said the friend, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. They added: “We know many who are still searching for their family members and relatives and they are not finding them, or if they are finding them they are finding them dead.”