No fewer than 1301 pilgrims have reportedly died while observing the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia authorities have revealed.
In an interview on Sunday, Fahd Al-Jalajel, the country’s minister of health disclosed that 83 per cent of the 1,301 fatalities were unauthorised pilgrims who walked long distances in high temperatures to perform the hajj rituals.
The minister said 95 pilgrims were being treated in hospitals, some of whom were airlifted for treatment in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
“1,301 people died during the #Hajj1445 season. May Allah have mercy on them all, 83% of them are not authorised for Hajj, who walked long distances under the sun, without shelter or rest, including a number of elderly people and people with chronic diseases,” he said.
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On May 26, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) said Tawakaltu Alako, a Nigerian pilgrim, slumped and died in her hotel at Makkah.
Following this incident, NAHCON has reported many more deaths in this year’s hajj putting the death toll at 15.
Abubakar Adamu, head of Nigeria’s medical team for 2024 Hajj, had told journalists on June 17, that one of the Nigerian pilgrims died due to heatstroke while on his way to Jamrate to perform the ritual of throwing stones.
Temperatures in Mecca this year climbed as high as 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit).
Mohammed Al-Abdulaali, a spokesperson for the Saudi health ministry, had said that more than 2,760 pilgrims suffered from sunstroke and heat stress on June 16 alone.
Meanwhile, Governor Umaru Bago of Niger State has called for a review of the activities of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON.
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The governor made the call on Sunday in a statement signed by Bologi Ibrahim, his Chief Press Secretary.
According to the statement, Governor Bago spoke in an interview with journalists in Mecca, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to assess this year’s Hajj operation.
He expressed concern over the way NAHCON turned itself into an operator of Hajj activities instead of playing regulatory roles.
The governor, who recounted the hitches pilgrims encountered, described the 2024 Hajj exercise as a failure.
He suggested that Hajj operations should be private sector-driven for effective and efficient service delivery.
Bago said that he will lead a committee of state governors to meet relevant authorities for a review of the commission’s activities.
“Let the private sector drive Hajj operations; NAHCON should be a regulator at the centre. I am leading a committee of governors to the Nigeria Governors Forum, from there, we go to the NEC. “I will propose this motion and we will send a bill to the National Assembly where this issue of NAHCON would be reviewed.
“NAHCON is not helping matters, our Federal Government is too big to be worried about Hajj operations, these are supposed to be local government issues and not even state issues,” Bago said.
