Over 1000 dead and rising as 50'c+ Heatwave hits Hajj in Saudi Arabia

ianh

ianh

ianh

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Hi all,

Whilst I'm not religious, I have spent a few years living in Saudi near to Mecca/Medina and so I like to keep track of events like Hajj and this years has been shocking for organisation by the looks of it, with over 1000 deaths from pilgrims across 10 nations so far being reported. Saudi tries to control/limit the number of visitors allowed to enter for Hajj to around 1.8 million by making it a Government operated (and expensive) scheme, however lots of local agents will, for about 50% of the cost of an "official" visa, get you onto the pilgrimage but without any of the support offered to those with the "official" pass, which covers things like air-con tents, buses etc and Saudi generally does a really great job of supporting those "official" pilgrims.

However, this years has seen around 50'c at ground level and so far it looks like the vast majority of the dead have been unofficial pilgrims, left without much water or shelter by their agents and unable to use the Government provided support. Due to the negative publicity (something Saudi's hate) I'm not sure we'll get a final, definitive number of the dead by the end (they still don't give one for the 2015 stampede at a campsite which killed almost 2500 for example), and I know they love autocratic bureaucracy with a passion but it's still a shock to see how they've allowed their fellow brothers and sisters to suffer so badly due to the two tier system, and some of the videos coming out is genuinely shocking.

A UK Imam had said of the scenes -

As you were walking, you could not walk 20 yards except you would see someone struggling in the heat. People were doing whatever they could to shade themselves, they were taking water from kind individuals who were giving them towels, they were taking shade in hotel receptions. It was harrowing at times, I've never seen so many people struggle collectively.
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www.independent.co.uk

Hajj pilgrim deaths surge past 1,000 as Saudi Arabia faces extreme temperatures

Around 1.8 million Muslims have taken part in the days-long pilgrimage this year
www.independent.co.uk www.independent.co.uk

news.sky.com

More than 1,000 dead during Hajj as heatwaves spread across the world

Ten countries have reported deaths of their citizens during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
news.sky.com news.sky.com

www.theguardian.com

More than 1,000 hajj pilgrims die amid temperatures approaching 52C in Mecca

Saudi authorities said they sent away unregistered pilgrims but many appear to have taken part without access to cooler spaces
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

www.dailymail.co.uk

Hajj pilgrim death toll passes 1,000 after brutal 50C heatwave

A British Imam described the scenes as 'harrowing' and said that it was impossible for pilgrims to walk through the streets and not to see people suffering from the heat.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk
 
I heard a quote on a video yesterday that was comparing the religious 'tourist' market in Saudi Arabia with the the Disney tourist market in the States and comparing the guest to 'staff' ratio and it really brought home what a corrupt country Saudia Arabia is with a rather incompetent and lazy native workforce who are currently spoilt by goverment bribe money from the oil (that won't last that much longer).

Obviously 50+ degree heat and the intense competition of a lot of one religions adherents to go walk in the desert, around a meteorite and throw stones at pillars doesn't help but the repeated issues with this event I think are emblematic of a group of peope incapable of operating without a near slave level imported servant class, to do all the hard work, and imported expertise to make sure things actually gets done and work.
 
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Blind fools.

Don't they realise that the one true lord is our Jesus Christ, our saviour and benefactor?

What is throwing stones at rocks going to do?


......
 
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This happens semi-regularly, IIRC one year a Saudi Minister responded to a mass casualty incident (IIRC a crowd stamped) by pointing out that as it happened during the Hajj the dead are all guaranteed entry to heaven.

Diddums said:
Whilst horrific, not unexpected. Hopefully this will get people questioning religion.
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I'm not too hopeful that's going to happen.
 
dowie said:
This happens semi-regularly, IIRC one year a Saudi Minister responded to a mass casualty incident (IIRC a crowd stamped) by pointing out that as it happened during the Hajj the dead are all guaranteed entry to heaven.



I'm not too hopeful that's going to happen.
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That’s brilliant for contractors doing any work in Mecca.

If anything goes wrong, it’s the will of Allah.
 
I’ve chatted about this with a colleague at the time who done this.

The average person plan and book this months or years in advance due to costs and is seen as the ultimate act of the Muslim religion. Tbh I wouldn’t mind going to see this and I’m not religious.

I guess there’s a backlog of people who still believes that they need to do this because of the pandemic.

We had a similar case during the pandemic.. throughout the year people was moaning about social gatherings for religious or cultural reasons…. Oh they can’t celebrate Eid or Chinese new year etc, etc.. while we have a very small number of people who would celebrate those days anyway.

Yet when it came to Remembrance Sunday, it was very hypocritical that they was demanding that the local council had it on at the local park “just like they do every year”… and that they just be going for a walk at the park at the time…

One of the elder chaps’ son pointed out how foolish that would be and his father will not be taking part this year.

The local councillors eventually had to come to some agreement where a few selective people would do the remembrance ceremony and it was steamed on fb for others to watch. After all the outcry and outrage of the event being skipped for a year, the viewing figures for the event barely made over 30 viewers for two village of 3000 people. I guess more people wanted to be seen as them being offended than was actually bothered about seeing the event.
 
Slam said:
would a bit of compassion for the deceased be too much to hope for around here?
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I feel compassion for those who try to cross the channel hoping for a better life for their families because Britain has systems in place to help people in need, and they risk everything to make it here. We are a better country from where they came.

This lot are just religious sheep incapable of thinking for themselves or making a rational decision and I have no sympathy for them.
 
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