Egypt to prosecute travel agents for fraudulent hajj trips

CAIRO, June 22: Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Saturday ordered 16 tourism companies stripped of their licences and referred their managers to the public prosecutors office for illegally facilitating pilgrims travel to Mecca, the cabinet said.

The order came after various countries reported more than 1,100 deaths, many attributed to high heat, during this years hajj.
Arab diplomats told AFP earlier this week that Egyptians accounted for 658 deaths, 630 of them unregistered pilgrims.

"The prime minister has ordered the licences of these companies to be revoked, their managers to be referred to the public prosecutor and the imposition of a fine to benefit the families of the pilgrims who died because of them," the Egyptian cabinet said in a statement.    —AFP