Heat exhaustion injuries rise among Haj pilgrims
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Riyadh: Heat exhaustion and heatstroke injuries during the Haj pilgrimage this year continue to rise in number, Saudi Arabia's Health Ministry has confirmed.
According to the Ministry’s statement, the number of injuries on Thursday reached 1,721, which was monitored by heat exhaustion centres in all hospitals in Mecca and the Holy Sites.
Among the ways to prevent heat exhaustion and to avoid the risk of heatstroke, the Ministry called on pilgrims to take care not to exhaust themselves with excessive movement without necessity, as well as not to stand for a long time.
The Ministry has also instructed the pilgrims to use umbrellas throughout the day and to drink sufficient amounts of water and fluids.
It is reported that most of the injuries resulted from the pilgrims' failure to adhere to the instructions issued by the Ministry.
This year’s Haj season is witnessing a significant rise in temperatures. On Thursday, Mecca recorded a maximum temperature of 45 degrees Celsius, while the Holy Site of Mina recorded 44 degrees and each of the two regions recorded a humidity of up to 40 per cent, the National Center of Meteorology (NCM) announced.
With inputs from IANS