Saudi Arabia: More than 570, including 320 Egyptians, died in Hajj

More than 570 pilgrims at the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia have died, mostly due to heat-related illnesses, AFP reported on Tuesday. 

At least 323 of those who died were Egyptians, according to two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries' responses who spoke to AFP. 

One of the diplomats said that all the Egyptian deaths were heat-related, except for one pilgrim who died after a crowd crush. 

The sources said that 550 deaths were recorded at the hospital morgue in the Al-Muaisem neighbourhood of the holy city of Mecca.

AFP put the total number of reported deaths at 577, as of Tuesday evening. 

At least 60 Jordanians were among those to have died, according to the diplomats, as well as 35 Tunisians, according to the country's foreign minitry.

Indonesia, Iran and Senegal also reported deaths at this year's Hajj, which began on 14 June, but did not specify if they were heat-related.

Temperatures at the Grand Mosque in Mecca reached 51.8 degrees celsius on Monday, Saudi Arabia's national meteorology centre said. 

Saudi authorities said on Sunday that 2,000 Hajj pilgrims had suffered heat stress. It has not updated the figures since then, and provided no information on fatalities. 

Videos shared on social media showed scores of pilgrims lying lifeless on the side of roads in the scorching heat.

Egyptian social media platform Rassd News posted one such video, with the caption: "Some of them could have been treated. Pilgrims document the Saudi authorities' neglect of the bodies of those killed during Hajj and leave them for hours on the sidewalks."

Cairo's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it was working with Saudi authorities to search for Egyptians who had gone missing during the pilgrimage. 

'Irregular pilgrims caused great chaos in the Egyptian pilgrims' camps, causing the collapse of services' 

- Egyptian official

An Egyptian official who spoke to AFP said the high Egyptian death toll was "absolutely" boosted by unregistered pilgrims. 

"Irregular pilgrims caused great chaos in the Egyptian pilgrims' camps, causing the collapse of services," said the official, who is supervising Egypt's Hajj mission.

"The pilgrims went without food, water or air conditioning for a long time," the official said, adding that people died because they had no place to take shelter. 

Around 1.8 million pilgrims performed the Hajj this year, of whom 1.6 million were from abroad, according to Saudi authorities. 

On the Day of Arafat, which took place on Saturday, pilgrims spent the whole day near a hill known as Mount Arafat (the Mount of Mercy), where the Prophet Muhammad delivered his final sermon. 

Saudi officials advised pilgrims to use umbrellas, stay hydrated and avoid exposure to the sun during the hottest hours. 

The annual pilgrimage, which is one of the five pillars of Islam, is increasingly being affected by climate change.

A recent Saudi study found that temperatures in areas where Hajj rituals are performed are rising by 0.4 degrees celsius each decade.