Heatwave: 15 Nigerians die in S’Arabia as death toll exceeds 1,000
National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has confirmed the death of 15 Nigerian pilgrims in the ongoing Hajj in Saudi Arabia, including a women leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State.
Those who passed away during the spiritual exercise, including a female pilgrim who committed suicide, are from Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara and Lagos states.
Death toll from this year’s Hajj has exceeded 1,000, an AFP tally disclosed yesterday. More than half of them are reportedly unregistered worshippers, who performed the pilgrimage under extreme heat in Saudi Arabia.
The new deaths included 58 from Egypt, according to an Arab diplomat, who provided a breakdown showing that of the 658 victims from that country, 630 were unregistered.
About 10 countries have reported 1,081 deaths at the pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, which Muslims with the means must complete at least once in a lifetime.
The National Meteorological Centre reported a 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature earlier this week at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
According to a Saudi study published last month, temperatures in the area rise 0.4 degrees Celsius each decade.
Each year tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform the hajj through irregular channels as they cannot afford the often-costly official permits.
Without official permits, they could not access air-conditioned spaces provided by Saudi authorities for the 1.8 million authorised pilgrims to cool down after hours of walking and praying outside.
A LEADER in the Lagos chapter of APC, Ramota Bankole, was pronounced dead after performing her Hajj rites in Saudi Arabia.
Bankole, a former Welfare Secretary of Lagos APC, was confirmed dead, yesterday, by three Lagos council chairmen amid ongoing search by friends and family members for missing pilgrims in Saudi.
Chairman, Epe Local Council, Surah Animashaun, stated that the deceased, who celebrated her 60th birthday last month, was hale and hearty before leaving the country for pilgrimage.
SAUDI Arabia authorities had ordered restriction of pilgrims’ movement for five hours on Monday, due to the intense weather.
Seven other pilgrims from Nigeria suffered severe heatstroke at the holy sites, while four expectant mothers were uncovered, as two ended with miscarriages.
Last year, 75 pregnant women went for the exercise.
The Head, National Medical Team, 2024 Hajj, Dr Abubakar Ismaeel, gave the account during a post-Arafah stakeholders’ event organised by NAHCON to review the general operations of the commission at the end of the spiritual exercise in Makkah.
In the overview of the medical team at Madina, as well as activities at the holy sites in Muna and Arafah, during the five days rituals, he disclosed that 2,856 Nigerians were offered medical consultation.
Ismaeel, therefore, suggested more enforcement of health policy in subsequent exercises, among other necessities, including thorough medical screening and issuance of valid certificates of fitness, especially to the elderly.
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