Around 1.8 million Muslims were expected to travel to Saudi Arabia for the religious journey, where temperatures this year reached 51.8C in the shade.
At least 550 people have died during the Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in the scorching heat, it has been reported. Temperatures reached at least 51.8C in the shade in the Saudi Arabian city, as huge crowds of Muslims undertook the annual religious journey - one of the five pillars of Islam. 'Hajj is a difficult task, so you have to exert efforts and perform the rituals even in the conditions of heat and crowding,' an Egyptian pilgrim said.
A 2024 study by the Journal of Travel and Medicine found that rising global temperatures may outpace strategies to deal with the heat. A 2019 study by Geophysical Research Letters said that as temperatures rise in arid Saudi Arabia due to climate change, pilgrims performing Hajj will face 'extreme danger'.
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