98 Indians died during Haj pilgrimage this year: MEA

The Indian External Affairs Ministry has stated 98 Indians have died during the annual Haj pilgrimage in Mecca in Saudi Arabia this 12 months.

Pilgrims struggled as a consequence of excessive warmth during Haj this 12 months.

Addressing a media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated: “This 12 months, 1,75,000 Indian pilgrims have visited Haj thus far.”

“The core Haj interval is from, I believe, May ninth to twenty second of July. So far, we’ve misplaced or there are 98 Indian pilgrims who’ve died in Haj,” he stated.

Speaking on the attainable reason for dying, he stated: “The core Haj interval is from ninth May to twenty second of July and thus far we’ve misplaced 98 of our residents. These deaths have occurred on account of pure sickness, pure causes, continual sickness, as additionally previous age. On the day of Arafat, 6 Indians died and 4 Indians have died on account of accidents. I’d additionally prefer to inform you that final 12 months, the determine of Indians who died in Haj was 187.”

The holy pilgrimage this 12 months started with folks combating excessive temperatures to finish their journey.

Thousands extra have been handled for heatstroke after an estimated crowd of 1.8 million Muslims contended with the excessive temperatures, reported CNN.

The Saudi authorities was quoted as saying by the American information channel on Monday that greater than 2,700 folks had been handled for heatstroke.

As per the Saudi General Authority for Statistics, greater than 1.8 million folks participated within the Haj pilgrimage this 12 months.

Haj is without doubt one of the largest non secular gatherings on the earth.

The Haj pilgrimage timing adjustments yearly with the Islamic calendar and this 12 months it coincided with June, a month thought-about to be one of many hottest in Saudi Arabia.

Haj officers requested pilgrims to hold umbrellas and keep hydrated amid the cruel circumstances whereas the Saudi military deployed greater than 1,600 personnel with medical items particularly for heatstroke and 30 fast response groups. Another 5,000 well being and first assist volunteers took half, reported CNN.