Haj: Egypt's death toll due to heat jumps to at least 600

An Arab diplomat told AFP on Wednesday that at least 600 Egyptians died during the haj pilgrimage, citing searing heat that reached 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.

"All of the (newly confirmed) deaths were because of the heat as well," the diplomat said, after Arab officials earlier reported a figure of at least 323 Egyptian deaths.

The pilgrimage began on Friday.

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Thirty-five Tunisian citizens have died during the Haj, Tunisian news agency Tunis Afrique Presse said on Tuesday.

Thirty-five Tunisian citizens have died during the Haj, Tunisian news agency Tunis Afrique Presse said on Tuesday.

Many of those deaths were due to extreme heat, family members said on social media, as other families continued to search for missing relatives in Saudi hospitals.

The Jordanian foreign ministry said it had issued 41 burial permits for Jordanian pilgrims on Tuesday. Earlier, the ministry said at least six Jordanian citizens died of heat stroke during the Haj.

Eleven Iranians have died and 24 were hospitalized during the pilgrimage, Iranian state news outlet IRINN said on Tuesday without giving the causes of death.

Three Senegalese citizens also died during Haj, Agence de Presse Sénégalaise, said on Monday.

One hundred and forty-four Indonesian citizens died during the pilgrimage, Indonesian health ministry data showed on Tuesday. The data did not specify if any of the deaths were due to heat stroke.

A Saudi health official, speaking to Reuters on Monday, before many of the reports of deaths were issued, said that authorities had not noticed any unusual fatalities among Muslim pilgrims amid the extremely high temperatures.

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