At least 14 Jordanian and five Iranian pilgrims have died in Saudi Arabia during the great annual pilgrimage, the hajj, which takes place within unbearable heat, the authorities of their countries announced today without specifying the causes of their deaths.

The annual hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, began on Friday in Mecca, in western Saudi Arabia, with more than 1.8 million worshippers, most of whom have come from abroad.

This year it is developing in the summer, in one of the hottest regions of the world where the thermometer reached yesterday, Saturday, the 46 degrees Celsius.

Saudi authorities have not released the number of cases of hyperthermia among pilgrims, but last year there were more than 10,000 cases, according to them, 10% of which were cases of heatstroke, which is the most serious.

“Fourteen Jordanian pilgrims have died and the fate of 17 others is missing during the hajj rituals,” the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said today, according to a statement carried by the official Petra news agency.

“The ministry is monitoring, together with the relevant Saudi authorities, the procedures for the burial of the pilgrims and the transfer of the bodies of those whose families wish to be transported to the kingdom,” he added, clarifying that searches are continuing to find the 17 missing pilgrims.

The head of the Iranian Red Crescent, Pirhossein Koulivant, said for his part that “five Iranian pilgrims lost their lives (…) in Mecca and Medina during this year’s hajj.”

Details of the circumstances of the deaths of these pilgrims were not immediately available.

All Muslims must make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it. Hajj consists of a series of rituals that are completed over four days.