AFTER HAJJ DEATHS, EGYPT SUSPENDS COMPANIES THAT TOOK PILGRIMS TO MECCA. (PHOTO).

 After Hajj Deaths, Egypt Suspends Companies That Took Pilgrims to Mecca

The action against 16 tour companies came as governments look into whether many travelers were not properly registered to make the journey into the desert.

ACCORDING TO ANOTHER SOURCE:

The hajj has been the site 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 has said that during this year’s hajj, more than 1.8 million Muslims traveled to Mecca, 1.6 million of them from outside Saudi Arabia.

At least 450 people have died during this year’s pilgrimage, in which travelers 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.”