More than 500 pilgrims have died in holy Mecca. Extreme heat wave in the region

At least 550 people have died in Saudi Arabia during the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. The cause was extreme heat – the temperature in the region on Tuesday exceeded 50 degrees centigrade.

Diplomats explained that the reason for such a large number of deaths was the huge number of unregistered pilgrims, whose arrival caused chaos in camps to help the faithful.

Most of the dead turned out to be Egyptians
Saudi diplomats specified that at least 323 of the dead were travellers from Egypt. The country’s foreign ministry said Cairo was co-operating with Saudi authorities to find Egyptians missing during the hajj.

At least 60 pilgrims from Jordan have also died. Tehran officially reported the deaths of five Iranian pilgrims without specifying the cause, while Dakar said three Senegalese pilgrims had died.