Egypt says will prosecute haj travel agents for ‘fraudulent’ trips – Times of India

CAIRO: Egyptian PM Mostafa Madbouly ordered 16 tourism companies stripped of their licences and referred their managers to the public prosecutor Saturday over illegal pilgrimages to Mecca, the cabinet said. The PM also imposed a fine on the companies to benefit families of the pilgrims who died.

The order came after countries whose citizens performed this year’s haj reported more than 1,100 deaths, many attributed to the oven-like summer heat in Saudi Arabia. An AFP tally Friday put the toll at 1,126, more than half of them from Egypt. Arab diplomats said earlier this week Egyptians accounted for 658 deaths – 630 of them unregistered pilgrims.

Prez Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ordered a “crisis cell” headed by Madbouly follow up on the deaths of Egyptian pilgrims.

A cabinet statement said the rise in the number of deaths of unregistered Egyptian pilgrims stemmed from some companies which “organised the haj programmes using a personal visit visa, which prevents its holders from entering Mecca” via official channels. It added more than 50,000 Egyptians joined the pilgrimage officially, and that there were “31 deaths as a result of chronic diseases”.