MECCA-- An elderly Pakistani has died from swine flu in Saudi Arabia where he was participating in the hajj pilgrimage, Saudi authorities said on Saturday.

The 70-year-old man had already been suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes when he was hospitalised with the A(H1N1) virus, the health ministry said in a statement on the official SPA news agency.

The death, whose date was not given, was the fifth from swine flu among some 2.3 million pilgrims taking part in the annual hajj in the Muslim holy city of Mecca this week.

Of the four others, three were 75 years old and suffering from other serious health problems. The fourth was a 17-year-old Nigerian woman with a chest infection.

Despite early worries, A(H1N1) infections have been surprisingly low during the pilgrimage, doctors say.

As of Thursday, there were only 57 proven infections and less than 20 more suspected cases, according to health ministry spokesman Dr Khaled Marghlani.

The infections were not concentrated in any specific group of pilgrims, though the largest number was from those coming from south and southeast Asia, the source of the largest number of pilgrims to the hajj overall.