At least 1,300 people lost their lives during this year’s annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. The unusually high death toll was attributed to heat waves, illness, and chronic disease, with more than 660 Egyptians among the fatalities.
In this context, a photo showing numerous bodies covered in white cloth has gone viral, claiming that it is the recent Hajj deaths in Saudi Arabia.
The image is shared on Facebook with a caption: “Over 1,000 people have died in 2024 Hajj. As per the reports, half of this number are unregistered pilgrims who performed hajj in the extreme heat. Its temperature exceeded 50 degrees Celsius. May Allah grant them all Jannah”
Here’s the link to the above post. (Archive link)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be MISLEADING.
Running the viral photo through Reverse Image Search, the NM team traced a report by the International Quran News Agency, dated September 25, 2015, featuring the same image. According to the report, an Iranian pilgrim, who survived a stampede in Mecca, was flaying the Saudi officials for their slow and inadequate response to the emergency.
The Iranian Student News Agency also shared the same image on September 26, 2015, stating that the stampede in Mecca had resulted in over 700 deaths.
News agency AFP had also shared a similar photo, reporting that at least 717 people were killed and hundreds injured in a stampede during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca on September 24, 2015.
Thus, it is confirmed that an image of dead bodies from Mecca stampede in 2015 has been fictitiously linked to the recent incident.
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