Saudi readies for ‘worst case scenario’ in sweltering hajj

Near a sprawling tent city outside Mecca, Saudi hospital staff are preparing for a flood of heat-related cases as Muslim pilgrims begin hajj this week in sweltering summer temperatures.

The Mina Emergency Hospital is one of 15 such facilities operating just a few weeks a year around the annual pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest sites, which in 2024 saw more than 1,300 people die in the desert heat.

Saudi authorities hope to head off a fatal repeat of last year’s pilgrimage, when temperatures…