The Egyptian government is to revoke the licenses of 16 Hajj tourism companies involved in making illegal pilgrimages to Mecca and will refer the company’s managers to the public prosecutor. The decision was made in a cabinet meeting on Saturday after a report highlighted the dubious nature of how some tourism companies operate and comes after hundreds of pilgrims from across the world died in sweltering heat.
But as the cost of one of these licences costs several thousand US dollars, many pilgrims try to access the site illegally and typically don’t travel in organized tour buses with air conditioning or easy access to water and food supplies. The timing of the Hajj is determined by the Islamic lunar calendar which this year has fallen during scorching temperatures in Saudi Arabia. Pilgrims made this year’s journey in extreme temperatures of up to 49 degrees Celsius .