It was an evening of sadness and anger on the airwaves last night as the nation’s talking heads zeroed in on the tragic deaths of Hajj pilgrims in Mecca last week. The cabinet’s newly formed task force to support the families of the deceased and facilitate the repatriation of those that were lost has so far confirmed 31 deaths from a total of 50,752 registered Egyptian pilgrims, but AFP cited an unnamed Arab diplomat putting the number at 658 — 630 of which were unregistered pilgrims.

Adib demands accountability: Shortly after Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly ordered that 16 unnamed tourism companies have their licenses stripped and their managers be prosecuted, Amr Adib took the airwaves to tell his viewers that “What happened to the Egyptian pilgrims this Hajj season must not be overlooked or lost in investigations. We need to identify the responsible companies and see their owners held accountable for the deaths of at least 500 to 600 Egyptian pilgrims” (watch, runtime: 37:25). “There are numerous loopholes in the Hajj system,” Adib added.

The government was eager to signal that its taking action: The government’s task force “has initially identified 16 travel companies that facilitated the unregistered travel of pilgrims outside official Hajj frameworks and didn’t provide them with any services,” cabinet spokesperson Mohamed El Homsani called in to tell Ahmed Moussa on Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 15:00). El Homsani added that “the prime minister has ordered the immediate revocation of these companies' licenses, referral of their officials to the public prosecution, and imposition of fines for the benefit of the victims' families.”

The charge: The government’s task force claims that the majority of those that died entered the country via personal visit visas obtained for them by companies organizing Hajj trips — instead of the required Hajj visas. The reason that so many unregistered pilgrims died was that they were not provided with medical services or accommodation from the travel agencies and had to access Mecca on foot via desert roads during the heatwave to avoid being caught by Saudi authorities, the task force said.

ALSO ON THE AIRWAVES- War brewing on Lebanon’s border with Israel? The escalating tensions between Hezbollah and Israel on the Lebanese border also caught Adib’s attention. “There are rumors that we are on the brink of war in Lebanon. Many countries, including Canada and Kuwait, have advised their citizens to leave Lebanon immediately” said Adib (watch, runtime: 11:21). “Hezbollah is determined to keep the front with Israel ablaze as long as the war in Gaza continues,” military strategist and commentator Samir Ragheb told Adib in a phone call. He added that “the US is opposed to Israel starting a war. The US aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford is en route to the region to intervene in case of a sudden war, especially since there is talk that Israel’s air defense could collapse in the face of Hezbollah’s rockets.”

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