ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least seven pilgrims from the Kurdistan Region lost their lives while performing the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, a Kurdish official told Rudaw on Sunday, attributing their deaths to a heatwave.
“Six pilgrims from the Kurdistan Region died in the past 24 hours while performing the obligatory Hajj this year,” Karwan Stoni, head of the media department in the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) endowment ministry, told Rudaw. Another pilgrim passed away on Monday, raising the total to seven.
Speaking to Rudaw, some of the families lamented that their members suffered from heatstroke, with temperatures this year at least 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than normal.
In one case, a father and his son were together when the son suffered a health condition that caused him to lose consciousness. When he recovered, he realized his 84-year-old father was missing, and despite contacting authorities, no trace of him has yet been found.
Another family of three also suffered heatstroke. All of them lost consciousness, one died and another went missing.
Nearly 4,600 pilgrims who are registered by Kurdish authorities have attended this year’s Hajj, but some of the Kurdish pilgrims that died had entered Saudi Arabia on a tourist visa, a violation of the regulations put in place by the kingdom.
Pshtiwan Sadiq, the KRG’s minister of endowment and religious affairs, told reporters on Sunday that his ministry does not have the exact figures of those on tourist visas, but estimated their number to be between 5,000 and 7,000. He said that they requested the Saudi officials to allow them to perform the ritual, only to be told by their Saudi counterparts that they could not make an exception for the Kurdish pilgrims.
The first pilgrims are expected to return to the Kurdistan Region starting from June 20, according to Kurdish officials. Those who entered Saudi Arabia by land are the first to return to the Region. About 1,400 have crossed the border by land.
The annual Hajj, a religious obligation for all Muslims who are financially and physically capable, draws millions of Muslims worldwide to gather in Saudi Arabia. Pilgrims journey to sacred sites throughout the country, including the Kaaba in Mecca, which holds the esteemed status of being the holiest site in Islam.
Every year, thousands of individuals from the Kurdistan Region undertake this pilgrimage.
