After hundreds of pilgrims died in the scorching desert heat during the annual hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the Egyptian government is taking action against tour operators who facilitated trips to Saudi Arabia and announced on Saturday that it had suspended the licenses of 16 companies.
At least 450 people died during the pilgrimage, during which travelers endured peak temperatures this ranged from 108 degrees to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (42 to 49 degrees Celsius). But the actual number of deaths is expected to rise much more as governments obtain more accurate death counts. (Egypt, for example, has officially acknowledged only 31 deaths.)
In announcing the suspension of the 16 travel agencies, the Egyptian government said they were unable to offer important services such as medical care to pilgrims. He said the companies failed to provide the pilgrims with “proper accommodation”, which caused the pilgrims to suffer from “exhaustion due to high temperatures”.
The Associated Press reported that some travel agencies may not have officially registered for the pilgrimage, to avoid the high costs of package tours. And, according to the AP, the companies were accused of letting pilgrims travel to Saudi Arabia on personal visas, rather than hajj visas that could have allowed them access to medical care and holy sites.
Some also complained that pilgrims did not have access to enough cooling stations or water due to the intense heat.
The number of unregistered visitors – added to the intense heat of the desert – could have left Saudi Arabia ill-prepared to deal with such a large influx of people.
The Tunisian government declared that the death toll among that country’s pilgrims is expected to rise from the 49 reported Friday, as the number of people traveling on tourist visas becomes clearer.
The hajj has been the scene of several tragedies, including a stampede in 2015 that killed more than 2,200 people. In recent years, with rising temperatures, many pilgrims have also succumbed to heat stress.
The Saudi government said that during this year’s hajj, more than 1.8 million Muslims traveled to Mecca, including 1.6 million from outside Saudi Arabia.
