More than 1,000 people have died during the 2024 Hajj in Saudi Arabia due to extreme heat, AFP reports.

Riyadh – Number of deaths from This year's Hajj More than 1,000 have passed, more than half of them unregistered pilgrims who performed the Hajj in sweltering Saudi Arabia heat, according to an AFP tally on Thursday. Thursday's new deaths include 58. From EgyptAccording to an Arab diplomat who provided the breakdown, 630 of the total 658 dead from the country were unregistered.

All told, about 10 countries reported 1,081 deaths during the annual Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam that all Muslims must complete at least once. These figures come from official statements or diplomats working on their countries' responses.

Hajj, which is timed by the lunar Islamic calendar, fell again this year during the oven-like Saudi summer.

The National Meteorological Center reported a temperature of 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) at Mecca's Grand Mosque earlier this week. Egyptian officials reached by CBS News would not confirm the figures reported by AFP, but dozens of videos posted on social media in recent days show bodies lying on the streets around the Grand Mosque. are

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday through social media confirming the death of 68 citizens traveling to Saudi Arabia for Hajj, while 16 others are missing. Many of the dead are being buried in Makkah as per the wishes of their families, the ministry said.

According to a Saudi study published last month, temperatures in the region are dropping by 0.4 degrees Celsius, or just one degree Fahrenheit, every decade.

Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform Hajj through illegal channels because they often cannot afford expensive government permits. Saudi authorities reported clearing hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Mecca earlier this month, but it appears many still took part in the main rituals that began last Friday.

This group was more vulnerable to the heat because, without official permits, they could not access the air-conditioned spaces provided by Saudi authorities for the 1.8 million authorized pilgrims to walk for hours and pray outside. Then they got cold.

“People were tired after being chased by security forces before Arafat, they were tired,” an Arab diplomat told AFP on Thursday, referring to the weekend's outdoor prayers. He said that it was at the peak of Hajj.

The diplomat said that the main cause of death of Egyptian pilgrims is the heat, which causes complications related to high blood pressure and other problems.

In addition to Egypt, deaths have also been confirmed in Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Jordan, Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia and Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region, although in many cases authorities have not given a reason.

Friends and family are searching for the pilgrims who are still missing.

On Wednesday they swarmed hospitals and made online pleas for news, fearing the worst amid scorching temperatures.

Saudi Arabia has not released information on fatalities, although it reported more than 2,700 cases of “heat exhaustion” on Sunday alone.