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More than 300 Egyptians die from heat during Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, diplomats say (www.cbsnews.com)

submitted 4 months ago by Wilshire@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

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[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 30 points 4 months ago

It's June in Saudi Arabia. I'm surprised it's not way higher than that every time.

[-] PlexSheep@infosec.pub 22 points 4 months ago

Actually it's June here too, what a coincidence!

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

Lies!

[-] BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee 2 points 4 months ago

So what you're saying is that the earth is flat.

[-] NosferatuZodd@lemmy.world 16 points 4 months ago

they do a good job cooling the place, the floors are cooled and there's a lot of water sprayed everywhere and lots of fans and stuff, with the number of people going there there needs to be ample preparation.

[-] Badeendje@lemmy.world 29 points 4 months ago

What is a pilgrimage without risk and suffering.

[-] JTskulk@lemmy.world 27 points 4 months ago

Allah works in mysterious ways.

[-] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

Religion murdered these people.

[-] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 11 points 4 months ago

The Hajj has been taking place over 1000 years. Hyper-aggro heatwaves in June is a new thing however. It wasn't religion, it was climate change.

[-] kamenoko@sh.itjust.works 10 points 4 months ago

Then the religion should adapt to the climate.

[-] theacharnian@lemmy.ca 5 points 4 months ago

Good point. Muslims should actually start making this argument against hydrocarbon-based economies.

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[-] whyalone@lemm.ee 4 points 4 months ago

They all know the consequences and they think God will protect them from whatever.. Yeah, religion killed them.

[-] Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 2 points 4 months ago

The Hajj has been taking place over 1000 years.

With people dying on it, yeah. Religion is why they're making the trip to the desert

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[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

Why Egyptians? Is there a special reason that singled this group out for some reason?

[-] vxx@lemmy.world 22 points 4 months ago

Because Egypt and Jordan reported their numbers.

[-] festus@lemmy.ca 9 points 4 months ago

I read somewhere that people who fork over money for a special visa to Saudis Arabia have access to air conditioned stations along the way. Most likely the Egyptians are doing it unofficially, which is likely easier to get away being in the general region already.

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[-] NosferatuZodd@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

I don't see any references or sources at all in the page, and I couldn't find other news sites with comparable numbers, I call bullshit.

it was reported that there was 41 jordanians who died trying to get to mecca without permits and they slept outside in the sun so that part was true but inflated number, the Egyptians thing is just a lie.

[-] wanderer@lemmy.world 13 points 4 months ago

The new deaths bring the total reported so far by various countries to 577, according to an AFP tally.

The do cite their source.

At least 60 Jordanians also died, the diplomats said, up from an official tally of 41 given earlier on Tuesday by the Jordanian government.

Do you think it's impossible that 41 people could die, reported on, and then more people die?

[-] WoahWoah@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jun/18/hundreds-of-hajj-pilgrims-die-in-mecca-from-heat-related-illness

You can also read the AP or AFP reports, which are easily accessible.

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[-] UmeU@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Such senseless loss of life in the name of religion. Many hundreds or thousands of people die each year doing the pilgrimage, often times from crowd crushes, literally getting squished to death because there are so many people, or just exhaustion.

There are only a few short video clips on YouTube of the massive crowds and it is sort of unnerving seeing that many people in a moving crowd. Super weird what religion makes people do.

There is also this weird video which talks about how they plan to revolutionize the hajj to make it safer and accessible to more people - using technology in a weird blend of old world meets new.

I do hope they find a way to make it safer because people will never stop doing it, but the whole concept just seems absurd to me.

[-] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

Such senseless loss of life in the name of religion.

If they'd died in the Saudi heat to a secular activity - at an F1 race event or inside a poorly A/C'd movie theater or trapped on an overheated bus - would that have been better?

There is also this weird video which talks about how they plan to revolutionize the hajj to make it safer and accessible to more people - using technology in a weird blend of old world meets new.

So much of the modern Saudi state sees the Hajj as little more than a massive tourist attraction. They're heavily invested in Disney-fying the experience, such that the maximal number of high-paying visitors can slide through the building frictionlessly.

Which is a shame, because the Hajj as a cultural event was originally intended as this class-agnostic unifying practice social event. You aren't supposed to visit these holy sites encapsulated into these exclusive expensive little bubbles. You're intended to mingle with people from the rest of the world and revel in a certain shared experience common to the faith the world over.

What we're seeing isn't some toxic religious ideology that Saudi administrators need to cleanse for mass consumption. Instead, we're seeing a commercialization and stratification of ideology, by which elites get a bespoke Hajj experience and Saudi officials get to operate as gatekeepers of tradition at some astronomical markup.

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[-] Gork@lemm.ee 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

They should build a giant enclosure over the Kaaba so it can be air conditioned. Or at the very least put in those mister-fan combos all over the place that are in amusement parks.

[-] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 12 points 4 months ago

Why stop there?

[-] NosferatuZodd@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

they do a pretty decent job cooling the place, the problems are outside the kaaba area though, as they can't cool down all the city,

the jordinians who died were sleeping in the desert as they were without permits and wanted to hide from the authorities.

the Egyptians though were not mentioned on any other news sites I know and I don't see any references or sources, so I call bullshit.

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this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2024

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