While it was confirmed that more than 1,100 people died during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi government stated that it was not responsible.
According to AFP on the 21st local time, a senior Saudi official said regarding the Hajj pilgrimage incident, “The state did not fail (in its management responsibilities), but there was a misjudgment by some people who overlooked the risk.”
The official added, “This is an incident that occurred during extreme heat waves and difficult weather conditions.”
This is the first time the Saudi government has made a statement since the Hajj pilgrimage incident.
According to AFP, 1,126 people have lost their lives so far this year due to heat-related illnesses caused by the heat wave during the pilgrimage period.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) estimates the death toll at more than 1,170.
It is reported that more than half of the dead were Egyptian nationals, and many were Americans.
In particular, the number of deaths is likely to rise further as hundreds of people are hospitalized or missing due to heat-related illness.
Foreign media pointed out that the reason why the damage was so great was because during this year’s pilgrimage, the daytime temperature rose to 52 degrees Celsius, and unauthorized pilgrims flocked in, and they were unable to properly use air conditioning facilities.
The Hajj, which is performed every year from December 7 to 12 in the Islamic calendar, is one of the five major duties that Muslims must perform.
Muslims must make a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina at least once in their lives, but Saudi authorities are limiting the number of people through a country-by-country quota system.
For this reason, the number of people entering Saudi Arabia on a tourist visa or other means and attempting to make a pilgrimage without permission is increasing.
According to Saudi authorities, about 1.8 million people visited Mecca with permission this year, but the number of unofficial pilgrims is said to have reached 400,000.
