1,301 pilgrims died during the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, in a period characterized by record heat and temperatures above 50 degrees. The number of deaths, made official by the Saudi Arabian authorities, puts the spotlight on the organization of pilgrimages by unscrupulous intermediaries. According to the data, 83% of the victims would have reached Mecca with unauthorized journeys: the pilgrims would therefore have been forced to travel long distances on foot under the sun, without assistance and without help. In particular, Cairo believes that many pilgrims who left Egypt lost their lives in a context of illegality: the Egyptian authorities took steps to withdraw the licenses of 16 agencies that had organized trips without any attention to safety.
Access to Mecca is linked to the granting of a visa: in total, 1.8 million passes are available which are divided between the various countries. The price of a visa can reach thousands of dollars, which is why agencies offering low-cost packages that force pilgrims to seek illegal access to Mecca after crossing desert areas find fertile ground.
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