After deaths during Hajj, Egypt excludes companies that brought pilgrims to Mecca

After hundreds of pilgrims died in the scorching heat of the desert during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the Egyptian government is now cracking down on travel companies that facilitated trips to Saudi Arabia. On Saturday it announced that it had revoked the licenses of 16 companies.

At least 450 people died during the pilgrimage, during which travelers had to endure extreme temperatures Temperatures ranged from 42 to 49 degrees Celsius. However, the true death toll is likely to be much higher as governments receive increasingly accurate death toll figures. (Egypt, for example, has officially admitted only 31 deaths.)

In announcing the closure of the 16 travel companies, the Egyptian government said the companies had failed to provide essential services to pilgrims, such as medical care. They said the companies had failed to provide pilgrims with “adequate accommodation,” which had caused pilgrims to suffer from exhaustion “due to the high temperatures.”

The Associated Press reported that some travel agencies may not be officially registered for the pilgrimage. to avoid the high cost of package tours. And, according to the AP, companies were blamed for allowing pilgrims to enter Saudi Arabia on personal visas rather than hajj visas that would have granted them access to medical care and the holy sites.

Mahmoud Qassem, a member of Egypt’s parliament, said travel companies had “abandoned the pilgrims and turned off their mobile phones” so they could not hear the travellers’ cries for help.

There were also complaints that there were not enough cooling stations and water available for the pilgrims due to the intense heat.

Due to the large number of unregistered visitors and the intense heat in the desert, Saudi Arabia may not have been prepared for such a large influx of people.

The Tunisian government has said the death toll among pilgrims from the country is expected to rise from the 49 reported on Friday as the number of people travelling on tourist visas becomes clearer.

There have been several tragedies during the Hajj, including a stampede in 2015 that killed over 2,200 people. In recent years, as temperatures have risen, many pilgrims have also succumbed to the heat.

According to the Saudi government, more than 1.8 million Muslims traveled to Mecca during this year’s Hajj, 1.6 million of whom came from abroad.

Hager Al-Hakeem reported from Luxor, Egypt.