Freetown, Sierra Leone – Sierra Leone’s Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Alhaji Mohamed Haji-Kella, confirmed that five Sierra Leonean Americans have died during the 1445/2024 Hajj pilgrimage in Makkah.
In an interview with Abubakarr Bah, the Information Attaché in Saudi Arabia, Kella explained that these individuals were American citizens of Sierra Leonean descent, carrying American passports.
According to Alhaji Haji-Kella, the deaths were attributed to the severe heat conditions experienced during the pilgrimage.
“Sources from the Ministry of Hajj and Umra suggest heat waves as the most common cause of death,” he stated.
The American consulate in Makkah is currently coordinating with Saudi authorities to identify the bodies for appropriate burial or repatriation.
Meanwhile, Tunisian President Kais Saied has dismissed Brahim Chaibi, the Minister of Religious Affairs, following public outrage over the deaths of at least 49 Tunisian pilgrims.
The extreme heat in Saudi Arabia has claimed the lives of numerous pilgrims over the past week, with Tunisian families still searching for several missing individuals.
The overall death toll for this year’s Hajj has surpassed 1,000, as reported by AFP on June 20.
Many of the deceased were unregistered worshippers who endured the pilgrimage under intense heat. Among the newly reported deaths are 58 Egyptians, as detailed by an Arab diplomat, with 630 of the 658 deceased Egyptians being unregistered pilgrims.
Additional fatalities were confirmed by Pakistan and Indonesia, which have recorded 58 and 183 deaths, respectively. Jordan reported 14 deaths due to sunstroke, with 17 pilgrims still missing.
Other countries, including Iran, Senegal, Malaysia, India, Sudan, and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, have also reported pilgrim deaths, though specific causes have not always been disclosed.
Temperatures in Mecca and surrounding holy sites reached around 50 degrees Celsius during the final days of the pilgrimage.
Many of the deceased pilgrims traveled on tourist visas rather than official Hajj registrations, complicating efforts to locate and assist them.
This year, approximately 1.8 million Muslims participated in the Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.
