Egypt to investigate Hajj pilgrim deaths as Jordan confirms higher toll

Officials from Cairo are visiting hospitals in Saudi Arabia to obtain information on the number of citizens receiving medical care

Paramedics evacuate a pilgrim suffering from heat exhaustion at the base of Mount Arafat. AFP

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has directed Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to form a “crisis committee” to investigate the deaths of citizens during Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

The order came a day after this year's pilgrimage ended amid reports that hundreds of Egyptians, many of whom were not officially registered in Hajj databases, had died.

“We find it necessary to immediately co-ordinate with the Saudi authorities to facilitate the receipt of the bodies of the deceased and provide all necessary facilities in this regard,” Mr El Sisi’s office said.

Egyptian officials were still visiting hospitals to obtain information on the number of citizens receiving medical care, the Foreign Ministry said.

“However, there are large numbers of Egyptian citizens who are not registered in the official Hajj databases, which requires double the effort and a longer time to search for missing persons and find their relatives,” it added.

The death toll from this year's Hajj exceeded 1,000, an AFP tally showed on Thursday, with more than half being unregistered worshippers who performed the pilgrimage in extreme heat in Saudi Arabia.

New deaths reported on Thursday included 58 from Egypt, according to an Arab diplomat who provided AFP with a breakdown that showed that of the 658 Egyptians who died from the time the pilgrimage began, 630 were not registered in the Hajj database.

Saudi Arabia has not issued any official death toll but several countries have announced the numbers of their citizens who died.

Egypt has yet to issue an official confirmation but said it was “exerting intensive efforts, in co-ordination with the Saudi authorities, to follow up on the search for Egyptian citizens missing while performing the Hajj rituals”.

Pilgrims take shelter from the blazing sun under umbrellas at the base of Mount Arafat during Hajj. AFP

Jordan orders investigation

Jordan's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the number of burial permits issued in Makkah for its citizens who died because of high temperatures had increased to 68.

Of the 107 Jordanian pilgrims listed as missing, 91 had been found, according to a database created by Amman's Directorate of Operations and Consular Affairs.

Twenty-two are in Saudi hospitals recovering from various illnesses, including seven who are critically ill, Jordan's Foreign Ministry.

Jordan has also ordered an investigation into the circumstances of its citizens travelling to Hajj.

Minister of Government Communications, Muhannad Mubaideen, said that some "offices and individuals" had "deceived" pilgrims in a way that led to their deaths, Jordan's Petra News Agency reported.

He added that the investigation would look into some Jordanian citizens who appeared to have travelled to the Hajj by unauthorised routes.

Arrest warrants had been issued "for a number of suspects," Petra reported.

Tunisia fires minister

Tunisia’s President Kais Saied dismissed on Friday the country’s Minister of Religious Affairs, Ibrahim Chaibi.

The decision came following the death of 35 pilgrims in Makkah, a statement on the Tunisian Presidency Facebook page said.

Several Tunisian pilgrims have also gone missing during this year’s Hajj and are yet to be found.

The Foreign Ministry said earlier that most of those who died or are missing reportedly entered the kingdom on a tourist visa. This made it difficult for Tunisian authorities to locate them, as their names were not listed on the official pilgrims list, the ministry said.

Heatwave

Hajj, whose timing is determined by the Islamic calendar, coincided with the hot and humid summer season this year.

Saudi Arabia's National Meteorological Centre reported a high of 51.8ºC this week at the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

Each year, tens of thousands of Muslims try to join the pilgrimage illegally by entering the kingdom as tourists weeks before as they cannot afford the costly official permits or will have failed to make the list of pilgrims in their country.

Saudi authorities said they barred hundreds of thousands of unregistered pilgrims from Makkah this month, but it appears many still participated in the main rites that began last Friday.

Indonesia, which had about 240,000 pilgrims, raised its death toll to 183, its Religious Affairs Ministry said, compared with 313 deaths last year.

Deaths have also been confirmed by Malaysia, India, Jordan, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia, Sudan and Iraq's Kurdish region. In many cases, authorities have not specified the cause.