A man affected by the scorching heat is helped by another Muslim pilgrim and police officer at the site of the symbolic 'stoning of the devil' ritual during the annual Haj pilgrimage in Mina on Jun 16, 2024. CAIRO: Egypt withdrew the operating licenses of 16 tourism companies and referred them to the public prosecutor, accusing them of being responsible for the deaths of Egyptian pilgrims in Mecca, a crisis unit tasked with addressing the situation said on Saturday .
The tourism companies which facilitated the travel of those who died did not provide them with services of any kind, including medical, the statement said without naming the companies involved. Medical services offered by Saudi authorities to alleviate the hardships of the pilgrimage are not offered to those travelling with a personal visa. The pilgrims who died had to walk through the desert into Mecca to avoid arrest or deportation, the statement added.Egyptian authorities also say those travel agencies did not provide the pilgrims with"appropriate accommodation," adding that this caused pilgrims'"exhaustion due to the high temperatures.