Number of Jordanians who die of heat exhaustion during Hajj reaches 75 — ministry

AMMAN — The Ministry of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs has announced that the number of Jordanians who died of heat exhaustion while performing the Hajj rituals has reached 75.

The ministry's Directorate of Operations and Consular reiterated that all the dead were not within the official Jordanian Hajj delegation.

It also said that 96 out of 110 pilgrims who had been reported missing were found but some of them in critical health condition.

The ministry said in a statement that it was facilitating the transfer of the bodies of those whose families wish to bring them back to the Kingdom at the expense of the government.

Sufian Qudah, the ministry’s spokesperson, said that a team from the Jordanian consulate general in Jeddah, part of the crisis cell formed by the ministry, has issued 68 burial permits for Jordanian pilgrims to be buried in Mecca according to the wishes of their families. "None of these pilgrims were part of the official Jordanian Hajj delegation," he said.

The Saudi authorities, until now, have issued 47 death certificates for Jordanian pilgrims.

Twnety-seven of the missing Jordanians are in Saudi hospitals, with 15 in critical condition, and arrangements are being made to transfer them for treatment in Jordan as soon as their health conditions permit.

He emphasised that the directorate is in constant contact with the families of the deceased and missing Jordanian pilgrims. “The consulate team in Mecca visits the injured in hospitals to check on their condition.”

He also said that the search operations are still under way for seven missing Jordanian pilgrims.

Qudah expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased pilgrims.