The annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca begins Wednesday, and the New York Times reports it will be the last to fall during summer months until the mid-2040s. The timing has Saudi Arabia on high alert, as it's hoping to avoid a repeat of last year, when more than 1,300 people died due to the extreme heat at what the Times calls "one of the largest annual human gatherings in the world." This year, temperatures are expected to again surpass 120 degrees Fahrenheit during the Hajj, reports the Telegraph.
Saudi Arabia says more than 1,475,000 pilgrims have entered the country since Sunday to complete the five-day journey, but another 270,000 or so people without permits have been stopped. Every Muslim is supposed to complete the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime, if money and health allows, but securing a permit to do so isn't always easy. They're doled out to countries by Saudi Arabia based on population size, and the wait to secure one can be decades long.
That's led to a surge of people arriving without the official permits that allow access to air-conditioned tents and official cooling centers; last year's victims were largely thought to be unregistered pilgrims from Egypt. The crackdown is part of an effort to prevent disaster. The Telegraph details some of the efforts the government undertook in advance of this year's Hajj, including the planting of 20,000 new trees, the installation of thousands of misting fans, the paving of some pilgrimage roads with white material to bring down surface temps, and a 25% increase in health care workers, with 50,000 of them on hand. (A Maryland couple were among last year's victims.)
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