More than 550 hajj pilgrims die in Mecca as temperatures exceed 50C
More than 550 hajj pilgrims die in Mecca as temperatures exceed 50C
At least 320 of the dead are from Egypt and Saudi officials report treating more than 2,000 people for heat stress
fatal injuries during a minor crowd crush
minor?!?
Kind of yes. Since Hajj brings 2-3 million people together, it was a minor crowd crush.
The major crowd crushes have resulted in deaths in double or even triple digits (in 2015).
Saudi Government has largely streamlined the movement of pilgrims, so I don't know where this crowd crush happened.
That said, I totally blame the government for inadequate response to the heat wave. While the article shares that the authorities distributed water and ice cream, it didn't help much in peak times. When I (a pilgrim) was returning on Jun 17, the crowd was barely moving and I could not reach the water at all since it was on the right end of the road, and I was on left, from where it's borderline impossible to move to the right without putting your life at risk.
Plus, I don't know who got the ice creams as I didn't see any.
I understand it is relative, but I personally would class any deaths as a major incident.
Good lord. How horrific.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“All of them [the Egyptians] died because of heat” except for one who sustained fatal injuries during a minor crowd crush, one of the diplomats said, adding that the total figure came from the hospital morgue in the Al-Muaisem neighbourhood of Mecca.
Earlier on Tuesday, Egypt’s foreign ministry said Cairo was collaborating with Saudi authorities on search operations for Egyptians who had gone missing during the hajj.
The pilgrimage is increasingly affected by climate breakdown, according to a Saudi study published last month that said temperatures in the area where rituals are performed were rising 0.4C (0.72F) each decade.
AFP journalists in Mina, outside Mecca, on Monday saw pilgrims pouring bottles of water over their heads as volunteers handed out cold drinks and fast-melting chocolate ice-cream to help them keep cool.
Saudi officials had advised pilgrims to use umbrellas, drink plenty of water and avoid exposure to the sun during the hottest hours of the day.
Hosting the hajj is a source of prestige for the Saudi royal family, and King Salman’s title includes “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques” in the cities of Mecca and Medina.
The original article contains 644 words, the summary contains 187 words. Saved 71%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
This will probably get removed but...
have you...
Tried praying harder?
550 people just died and your only response is to mock their religion.
What kind of person are you? Have you no decency?
If this had been an outdoor rock concert, would you start mocking their taste in music?
People at a rock concert wouldn't feel obliged to stay and would be able to leave without guilt or fear.
I don't understand why they didn't have anything set up to accommodate the Pilgrims to cool them off or maybe restrict access to a limited number of people to allow them to be spaced out enough to have some breathing room.
I know if a tragic event, but god damn religion is stupid. All religions. Even those that encourage monks to starve themselves or suffer for enlightenment. As an atheist this all makes no fucking sense.
That's what religions do - kill people for stupid reasons.
lemmings for allah
ITT: Islamophobia, believe it or not!
I'm just wondering if the mods are sleeping or if they think Islamophobia is acceptable.