Filipina on hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia dies of heatstroke

Muslim pilgrims pray around the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca on June 18, 2024 at the end of the annual hajj pilgrimage. (Photo by AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) revealed that a Filipina based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, who was on a hajj pilgrimage, died of heatstroke.

According to DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega, the Filipina, who was unnamed, was buried in Saudi Arabia following Islamic practices.

“So far, one female Riyadh-based Filipino pilgrim died of natural causes (heatstroke) in Makkah.  She has been buried in Saudi Arabia in accordance with Islamic practice,” de Vega said in a text message to Inquirer.net.

Hajj, one of the pillars of Islam, is a pilgrimage to Mecca that Muslims who are physically and financially capable must make at least once in their lives.

According to de Vega, there are an estimated 5,100 Filipino Muslims who made the pilgrimage this year.

He added that the DFA sent a team in Saudi Arabia to assist the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh in serving the Filipino pilgrims.

Friends and family searched for missing hajj pilgrims on Wednesday as the death toll at the annual rituals, which were carried out in scorching heat, surged past 900.

Relatives scoured hospitals and pleaded online for news, fearing the worst after temperatures hit 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, on Monday.

About 1.8 million people from all over the world, many old and infirm, took part in the days-long, mostly outdoor pilgrimage, which this year fell during the oven-like Saudi summer.

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