During the Muslim pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, dozens of Tunisian pilgrims perished in extreme heat. In response, Tunisia’s President Kais Saied dismissed his Minister for Religious Affairs, Brahim Shaibi. This move came after Shaibi confirmed the deaths of 49 Tunisian pilgrims and admitted to negligence in supervising the pilgrims.
In Egypt, 16 tour operators had their licenses revoked for illegally organizing trips to Saudi Arabia for unregistered pilgrims. Criminal investigations are underway against those responsible. The total number of deaths during the pilgrimage has not been officially announced, and Saudi Arabia has not made any public statement on the matter. Several countries have reported that some of their citizens have died during the Muslim pilgrimage in Mecca, with the number of deaths expected to continue rising.
According to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Indonesia had counted 225 dead pilgrims by Saturday, with most deaths not related to heat. India reported the deaths of 98 citizens, while the Jordanian Foreign Ministry stated that at least 75 Jordanian pilgrims had died due to extreme temperatures. Iranian authorities reported that 11 Iranians were among the deceased, and Malaysian news agency Bernama reported 14 pilgrims from Malaysia had died. Pakistan, Senegal, and Egypt also reported significant numbers of deaths among their citizens during the pilgrimage.
Various Arab governments have expressed difficulty in determining the actual number of deaths due to many deceased pilgrims not being officially registered. Officially, pilgrims must apply for a special visa to perform the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, but many entered on tourist visas. Unregistered pilgrims typically lack access to accommodation and transport services provided for
