Saudi readies for 'worst case scenario' in sweltering Hajj

NEAR a sprawling tent city outside Mecca, Saudi hospital staff are preparing for a flood of heat-related cases as Muslim pilgrims begin Hajj this week in sweltering summer temperatures.

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The Mina Emergency Hospital is one of 15 such facilities operating just a few weeks a year around the annual pilgrimage to Islam's holiest sites, which in 2024 saw more than 1300 people die in the desert heat.

Saudi authorities hope to head off a fatal repeat of last year’s pilgrimage, when temperatures reached 51.8°C (125 Fahrenheit). Temperatures this year are forecast to exceed 40°C as one of the world’s largest annual religious gatherings, bringing together devotees from around the globe, officially commences today.

So far, authorities have recorded 44 cases of heat exhaustion.

Abdullah Asiri, Saudi Arabia's deputy minister for population health, told AFP at the Mina hospital that “the focus is on heat-related conditions because the Hajj coincides with extreme heat”.

Brimming with staff but no patients just yet, the hospital is part of the kingdom’ efforts to prepare for “the worst case scenario” after pilgrims descend on Mina, Asiri said.

Defying the scorching heat, pilgrims have already started to flock to Mecca.

As of Sunday, more than 1.4 million pilgrims had arrived in Saudi Arabia for the multi-day pilgrimage, according to officials.