The rising death toll from the Mecca heatwave is sadly keeping Egypt in the news: With the Saudi state news agency SPA reporting that the death toll now stands at over 1.3k pilgrims, the world’s press have been trying to unravel why the tragedy happened. Center stage in the discussion is Saudi Health Ministry reports that 83% of those who were lost were unregistered pilgrims, half of whom have been reported to be Egyptians. Security and medical sources that spoke to Reuters have put the number of Egyptians that died at 672 with a further 25 missing.

The government’s efforts to clamp down on tourism companies it say endangered the lives of pilgrims have received ink from the international press: Mirroring Saudi Health Minister Fahad bin Abdurrahman Al Jalajel’s assessment that the high death toll is due to “unauthorized pilgrims who walked long distances under direct sunlight with no suitable shelter or comfort,” the Egyptian government suspended the operating licenses of 16 travel companies that facilitated the unregistered travel of pilgrims. An Egyptian government task force to address the situation argue that travel companies that sent pilgrims into the country on a personal visit visas instead of the required Hajj visas endangered the pilgrims lives by sending them on foot to Mecca via desert roads during the heatwave to avoid being caught by Saudi authorities and did not provide medical services and accommodation. (Reuters | New York Times | CNN | Guardian | BBC | Deutsche Welle)

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