At least 550 hajj goers died in Saudi Arabia’s Mecca as the temperature exceeded 50 degree Celsius, AFP has reported.

At least 323 of those who died were Egyptians, most of them succumbing to heat-related illnesses, the two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries’ responses told AFP.

“All of them [the Egyptians] died because of heat, except for one who sustained fatal injuries during a minor crowd crush,” one of the diplomats said, adding that the total figure came from the hospital morgue in the Al-Muaisem neighbourhood of Mecca.

At least 60 Jordanians have died, the diplomats said, up from an official tally of 41 given earlier on Tuesday.

According to an AFP tally, the new deaths bring the total reported so far by multiple countries to 577.

Earlier on Tuesday, Egypt’s foreign ministry said Cairo was collaborating with Saudi authorities on search operations for Egyptians who had gone missing during the hajj.

Saudi authorities have reported treating more than 2,000 hajj goers suffering from heat stress but have not updated that figure since Sunday and have not provided information on fatalities, according to the report.

At least 240 hajj goers were reported dead by various countries last year, most of them Indonesians.