Egypt cracks down on tourism cos after hundreds of pilgrims die during Hajj

By Gerry Mullany

After hundreds of pilgrims died in the scorching desert heat during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, the Egyptian government announced on Saturday that it had suspended the licenses of 16 tour companies that had facilitated travel for some pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
 

At least 450 people have died during this year’s pilgrimage, in which travellers endured maximum temperatures that ranged from 108 degrees to 120 degrees Fahrenheit (42 to 49 degrees Celsius). But the actual number of fatalities is expected to climb as governments get more accurate tallies of the deaths. (Egypt, for one, has officially acknowledged only 31 deaths.) In announcing the suspension of the 16 travel companies, the Egyptian government said the businesses failed to offer the pilgrims important services like medical care. It said the companies did not provide the pilgrims with “appropriate accommodation,” which caused them to suffer from “exhaustion due to the high temperatures.”
 

Reuters reported that some travel agencies may not have officially registered for the pilgrimage, to get around the high costs of package tours. And, Reuters said, companies were being blamed for letting pilgrims travel to Saudi Arabia on personal visas, rather than hajj visas, which provide access to medical care and the holy sites.
 

Mahmoud Qassem, a member of Egypt’s Parliament, said the travel companies “left the pilgrims stranded and turned off their mobile phones” so they could not hear the travellers’ calls for help.
 

There were also complaints that pilgrims were not given access to enough cooling stations or water amid the intense heat. The number of unregistered visitors could have left Saudi Arabia unprepared for dealing with such a large influx of people. Tunisia’s government has said that the death toll of pilgrims from that country was expected to rise from the 49 reported on Friday.

©2024 The New York Times News Service