RIYADH: The deaths of 1,300 pilgrims through the hajj in Saudi Arabia final yr underscored the pressing must mitigate risks posed by excessive warmth, with crowd administration a vital first step, analysts say.
Temperatures soared to 51.8 levels Celsius (125 levels Fahrenheit) within the holy metropolis of Mecca final June as 1.8 million worshippers took half within the annual rites, one of many 5 pillars of Islam.
Saudi officers mentioned 83 per cent of the 1,301 recorded fatalities didn’t have official hajj permits and had been due to this fact unable to entry facilities meant to make the hajj extra bearable, together with air-conditioned tents.
It was a high-profile instance of the havoc wrought by warmth in 2024, which the Copernicus Climate Change Service mentioned on Friday was the most popular yr ever recorded.
The overwhelming majority of hajj pilgrims come from overseas, and diplomats concerned of their international locations’ responses to final yr’s disaster advised AFP on the time that the majority deaths had been heat-related.
While Riyadh has not detailed preparations for this yr’s pilgrimage, nonetheless 5 months away, authorities will little question need to keep away from a repeat, mentioned Abderrezak Bouchama of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah International Medical Research Center.
“I believe they’ll above all scale back the danger of unlawful pilgrims,” mentioned Bouchama, who has labored with the Saudi authorities for greater than three a long time on lowering warmth deaths.
“I believe they’ve learnt their lesson, so we now have to see what sort of measures they’ve taken for that.”
Other steps to make the warmth much less perilous, equivalent to introducing wearable sensors to shortly detect warmth stress, are long-term initiatives that seemingly will not be rolled out by June, Bouchama added.
Saudi officers didn’t reply to AFP’s requests for remark.
‘Perfect storm’
The hajj takes place over 5 to 6 days, largely outside.
It has seen plenty of disasters over time, together with in 2015 when a stampede through the “stoning the satan” ritual in Mina killed as much as 2,300 individuals.
Responses prior to now have “sometimes targeted on infrastructure enhancements and crowd management measures”, mentioned Karim Elgendy, an affiliate fellow on the Chatham House suppose tank.
“Based on this sample, we’d anticipate authorities to strategy the 2025 hajj with enhanced warmth mitigation infrastructure and doubtlessly stricter capability controls.”
Hajj permits are allotted to international locations on a quota system and distributed to people by lottery.
But even for many who can get hold of them, the steep prices spur many to aim the hajj with out a allow, although they threat arrest and deportation if caught.
The introduction of a common tourism visa in 2019 has made it simpler for all foreigners, together with permit-less pilgrims, to enter the nation.
Sealing off entry factors to Mecca is “very tough”, that means Saudi authorities ought to anticipate irregular pilgrims once more this yr, mentioned Umer Karim, an professional on Saudi politics on the University of Birmingham.
Saudi authorities “must make preparations not only for registered numbers but in addition for extra numbers”, notably cooling and emergency well being amenities, he mentioned.
Yet Elgendy confused final yr’s deaths had been the product of “an unprecedented excellent storm of environmental situations”, not only a pressure on assets attributable to unregistered pilgrims.
On high of excessive temperatures, “the summer season solstice timing meant pilgrims confronted most solar publicity throughout out of doors rituals”, he mentioned.
The hajj’s timing is decided by the Islamic lunar calendar and can transfer ahead about 11 days within the Gregorian calendar, that means this yr it would once more fall through the scorching Saudi summer season.
‘Extreme hazard’
Authorities had been pursuing heat-mitigation measures at holy websites lengthy earlier than final yr’s deaths.
Near the Kaaba, the black cubic construction within the Grand Mosque in Mecca in direction of which all Muslims pray, air-conditioned areas enable pilgrims to chill off, and a climate-controlled pathway connects the hills of Safa and Marwa contained in the mosque compound.
Since 2023, roads utilized by the devoted have been coated in a white cooling materials that Saudi officers say reduces the temperature of the asphalt by 20 per cent.
Volunteers additionally distribute water and umbrellas and supply recommendation to pilgrims on avoiding hyperthermia, whereas misting programs and air-conditioned buying malls present short-term aid between prayers.
“Air conditioning is the one efficient measure to guard in opposition to excessive warmth,” mentioned Bouchama, calling for cell cooling items to be deployed amongst pilgrims.
“Drinking water helps to rehydrate, however it isn’t sufficient. You should get out of the warmth.”
Even if such steps aren’t in place by this yr’s hajj in June, they’re nonetheless price pursuing, he mentioned.
While the pilgrimage will ultimately shift to the cooler winter season, aid shall be short-term.
A 2019 examine revealed by the journal Geophysical Research Letters mentioned due to local weather change and the timing of the hajj, warmth stress for pilgrims will exceed the “excessive hazard threshold” from 2047 to 2052, and 2079 to 2086.
Saudi prepares for an additional hajj menaced by excessive warmth – Times of India
