New Delhi: More than 80 Indians died Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca this year among the hundreds dead during this year, confirmed the officials. Several whereabouts of Indian pilgrims reported missing, with the true extent of the toll yet to be confirmed.

The total fatalities, estimated to be over 600 so far, are primarily attributed to extreme heat and age-related factors and underscore the challenges faced during the annual ritual. Saudi Arabia has not released any official figures of the death toll, despite reporting over 2,700 cases of heat exhaustion on June 16^th.

According to the sources, nine of the deceased Indians were from Jammu and Kashmir, with most succumbing to old age or heat-related causes, while two fatalities resulted from road accidents.

According to the Saudi National Centre for Meteorology temperatures on Tuesday reached 47 degrees Celsius in Mecca and the sacred sites in and around the city. Onlookers saw some people faint while trying to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil.

At the Grand Mosque in Mecca, temperatures reached 51.8 °C on Monday, though pilgrims had already left for Mina, said officials. Muslims from across the world go for this five-day pilgrimage every year, which commenced on June 13^th. This year, nearly 1.8 million people went to Hajj. There were close to 1.75 lakh Indians who went on Hajj this year.

India has extended all possible support to make the stay of the Hajjis comfortable and even facilitated their transfer from Riyadh to Mecca on a high-speed train.

Egypt bore the highest toll of these fatalities, with over 300 pilgrims reported deceased. Similarly, fatalities among their citizens have been confirmed by Jordan, Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia, and Kurdistan.