New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday confirmed that 98 Indians have died during the Hajj 2024 pilgrimage.
However, deaths of Indian nationals that have been reported are due to natural causes like illness and old age, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a media briefing on Friday.
That’s contrary to reports of hundreds of deaths due to the intense heatwave prevailing in Saudi Arabia.
“A large number of pilgrims visit Hajj every year. This year, 175,000 Indian pilgrims have visited Hajj so far. We have reports of 98 Indian pilgrims who have died this year. The causes are natural illness and old age,” Jaiswal stated.
A Saudi Arabia diplomat had earlier said that 68 Indians have died during the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Last year, 187 Indians had died during Hajj pilgrimage.
The overall death toll of Hajj 2024 has crossed the 1,000-mark.
Pilgrims from Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region have died in the pilgrimage due to heatstroke, Arab diplomats have stated.
According to the Saudi National Meteorological Centre (SNMC), next year’s pilgrimage will the last Hajj in the summer season.
“The Hajj season will enter a new phase of climate change during the year 2026. We will not witness summer Hajj until after 17 years,” said Hussein Al-Qahtani, a spokesman of SNMC.