Beni Mellal – The Moroccan government has addressed the tragic deaths of 17 Moroccan pilgrims during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
In a press conference following a government council meeting today, government spokesman Mustapha Baitas stated that he does not have specific information regarding the circumstances of the deaths.
Baitas provided a brief comment during his responses to journalists’ questions, indicating that other agencies will be responsible for presenting various details on the matter.
The government spokesman’s reserved statement comes amidst angry outcry from Moroccan pilgrims who endured what they described as “catastrophic conditions” during the pilgrimage.
According to the news outlet “Médias24,” citing private sources, the number of Moroccan pilgrims who died while performing Hajj rituals this year has reached 17.
The same outlet clarified that this figure is part of an annual average ranging between 30 and 45 deaths among Moroccan pilgrims each year.
The Moroccan Hajj delegation this year included 34,000 pilgrims, with 15% of them over the age of 82, a demographic considered most vulnerable to the risk of high temperatures.
Mecca experienced a record-breaking temperature of 51.8 degrees Celsius last Monday, according to the Saudi National Center of Meteorology.
A Saudi study published this month indicated that temperatures in the region where the Hajj rituals take place are rising by 0.4 degrees Celsius per decade, increasingly impacting the pilgrimage due to climate change.
Saudi authorities reported that the total number of pilgrims this year reached around 1.8 million, with 1.6 million coming from abroad.
The death toll from this year’s Hajj has surpassed 1,000, according to an AFP tally, with more than half being unregistered worshippers who performed the pilgrimage in extreme heat.
The Saudi meteorological center reported the record high temperature at the Grand Mosque in Mecca earlier this week.
Tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to join the Hajj each year through irregular channels, as they cannot afford the often costly official permits.
While Saudi authorities reported clearing hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca this month, it appears that many still participated in the main rituals.
