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Muslim pilgrims have arrived in the Saudi Arabian city of Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, to perform the symbolic “stoning of the devil” ritual as part of the Hajj pilgrimage.
CNN —
The Egyptian government plans to revoke the licenses of 16 Hajj tourism companies involved in illegal pilgrimages to Mecca and refer their owners to prosecutors amid fears that hundreds of Egyptians may have died during this year’s Hajj.
The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting on Saturday following a report which pointed out the questionable nature of how some tourism companies were being run.
The official Egyptian death toll is 31, but Reuters and other media have reported that as many as 500 to 600 Egyptians have died during the pilgrimage. CNN’s tally puts the total Hajj death toll at around 500, but the number could be higher.
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Muslim pilgrims perform a farewell pilgrimage called “Tawaf”, which involves walking seven times around the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest shrine, located in the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca.
The cabinet’s report said some tour operators did not issue proper visas, forcing tourists to enter the holy city of Mecca “by foot through the desert.” It also accused some operators of not providing proper accommodation, exposing tourists to the heat.
During the meeting, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly offered his “deepest condolences and sympathies” to the families of the pilgrims who died and promised to provide any necessary assistance.
Hajj permits are issued to countries on a quota system, with Saudi Arabia requiring each pilgrim to obtain one of 1.8 million permits to legally enter Mecca.
But those permits cost thousands of dollars, so many pilgrims try to access the site illegally, typically avoiding the more air-conditioned tour buses where water and food are readily available.
The timing of the hajj is determined by the Islamic lunar calendar, and this year it fell during Saudi Arabia’s scorching hottest period, with pilgrims making the journey in extreme cold, with temperatures reaching up to 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) this year.
Ahmed, a 44-year-old from Indonesia, told CNN he had seen many people get sick and die from the heat.
“On the way back, I saw many pilgrims who had died. Every few hundred metres, a body covered in ilom lay. [white fabric] cloth. ”
“Whenever locals or certain organisations distribute water, pilgrims immediately flock to it,” he added, saying he had not seen a single medical worker or ambulance along the route.
As part of the pilgrimage, believers perform a series of rituals in and around the holy city of Mecca, often walking for hours in scorching heat each day.
The exact number of deaths during this year’s Hajj is unclear, but the number is expected to rise as each country reports its own death toll among its own citizens.
Moreover, governments only keep track of those pilgrims who have registered and visited Mecca according to their national quotas, raising concerns that further deaths could occur among unregistered pilgrims.
