Over 1,000 pilgrims have died during the hajj this year as Saudi Arabia's Mecca continued to reel under intense heat, AFP reported
The new deaths reported Thursday included 58 from Egypt, according to an Arab diplomat who provided a breakdown showing that of 658 total dead from that country, 630 were unregistered.All told around 10 countries have reported 1,081 deaths during the annual pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam which all Muslims with the means must complete at least once.
The figures have come via official statements or from diplomats working on their countries' responses.
The hajj, whose timing is determined by the lunar Islamic calendar, fell again this year during the oven-like Saudi summer.
The national meteorological centre reported a high of 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) earlier this week at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
According to a Saudi study published last month, temperatures in the area are rising 0.4 degrees Celsius each decade.
