The 81-year-old Abdelzaher Abdo Salem made the decision to travel from Egypt to Mecca after completing a task two years prior to marry his youngest son Mahmoud.

Mahmoud, his son, stated that this was his final request. "He was unable to complete the Hajj prior to that due to financial constraints and the significant costs associated with my impending marriage."

Owing to the exorbitant expense of the Hajj via official channels, which amounted to 150,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,091), plus plane tickets, Salem had resorted to hiring an unregistered firm agent to arrange the trip for approximately 100,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,061).

However, Salem never returned to Egypt. He was one of the over 1,300 pilgrims who lost their lives while doing the Hajj this year as Saudi Arabia experienced record-breaking heat.

According to Saudi officials, the great majority of the deceased were not authorized to perform the rites.

The incident has drawn attention to the shady business of unlicensed travel agents and resulted in one of the greatest Hajj mortality rates in years. These spies take advantage of Muslims' desire to carry out their religious duties by circumventing the law and sending pilgrims on potentially dangerous trips.

As the temperature hit a record 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51.7 degrees Celsius), Saudi officials reported that many of the people who perished "walked long distances under direct sunlight, without adequate shelter or comfort."

In order to enter Mecca, Salem had to apply for a personal visit visa to Saudi Arabia rather than a special Hajj visa, which would have allowed him to enter the holy cities and pilgrim amenities like air-conditioned venues and medical care. However, holders of a visitation visa are prohibited from entering Mecca and must instead go through the desert, frequently on foot, to reach the holy city.

A representative of the Egyptian travel firm had assured Salem and his wife that a bus would be available to transport the group. But according to his son Mahmoud, there was no transportation available to get them to and from Mount Arafat, so in order to carry out the "stoning the devil" ceremony, the two had to walk the eight kilometers or so to Mina.

Salem's wife grew weary on the journey and stopped to rest. Resolved to finish the rites, her husband kept strolling. Mahmoud stated he made a vow to his wife that he would come back.

However, after then, communication with Salem was lost. After five days of searching, his wife finally located his name on the list of deceased at Al-Ma'aisam Hospital in Mecca.

"Our mother sent us a voice message on WhatsApp with the news. For us, the news was tragic," Mahmoud remarked. "No one is there to console our mother, who is there, devastated."

a prosperous sector

The Saudi government grants pilgrims permission to enter Mecca legally each year. These licenses give worshippers access to air-conditioned vehicles and lodging options. But just 1.8 million licenses are available this year, and they might cost several thousand dollars.

A certain number of licenses are granted to each nation in accordance with the number of Muslims living there. People who are not eligible for the allocation or who cannot afford the license are not included in this process.

Every physically fit Muslim has a once-in-a-lifetime religious duty to perform the Hajj. Many Muslims put off making the trip until later in life, waiting until they have saved enough money and taken care of their family before embarking on the journey. Millions, however, are frustrated when they are unable to get a spot through the legitimate methods.

Traditionally, each nation receives one Hajj license for every 1,000 Muslims, or a 0.1% rate. But 50,000 Hajj licenses were given out this year, or around 0.05% of the total, to Egypt, a nation of 110 million people with a majority of Muslims, according to Egyptian officials quoted in state media.

This has led to the emergence of a profitable travel business with companies promising to get pilgrims into Saudi Arabia without official permission, frequently with promises of transportation and lodging that may not materialize or may be of subpar quality. This year's intense heat added to the situation meant disaster for a lot of pilgrims.

Although pilgrim deaths are not unusual—more than 200 pilgrims died the year before—this year's event was held in unusually hot weather. According to the Islamic calendar, the Hajj season varies annually and this year it fell in June, which is one of the hottest months in the kingdom.

According to Atef Aglan, a member of the Egyptian Travel Agents Association, many Egyptians are unaware of the Hajj procedures, which makes it possible for unskilled tour operators and certain mosque imams to take advantage of the underprivileged by offering a cheaper Hajj without the necessary visa, lodging, or transportation.

Due to the fact that "it has become a profession for those with no profession," he suggests making the phenomena illegal.

According to Aglan, "This is premeditated murder because the broker is aware that the temperature is above 50 degrees Celsius and that these people are not living in adequate housing."

According to Aglan, the cost of a Hajj package purchased from a licensed agency is roughly $4,760, whereas unapproved journeys run about $3,700.

The most recent data available in 2019 shows that the average yearly household income in Egypt is $1,429 per year.

Inadequate attention to pilgrims

The catastrophe has also brought to light the Saudi authorities' failure to stop the unofficial pilgrimages that have been occurring for years and to adequately care for individuals who go on them.

The number of undocumented pilgrims who attended this year's Hajj is unknown, but according to a report published on Tuesday by the Saudi news source Al Sharq Al Awsat, 141,000 of them received free medical care over the Hajj season. That is around 8 percent of the 1.8 million pilgrims that are expected this year.

The enormous volume of pilgrims participating in the Hajj has contributed to a number of fatal events in recent decades, including a stampede that claimed the lives of over 700 people in 2015.

Saudi Arabia, realizing the potential economic benefits of Islamic tourism, intends to boost the number of Hajj pilgrims from the current little under 2 million to 5 million by 2030.

However, some pilgrims have bemoaned the Hajj's inadequate planning and facilities. It is possible for even those on official tours to stroll outside in the intense heat for the most of the day.

Hania Hassan Salama, 65, a homemaker from Egypt, asked her children to draw a mural of the Kaaba on the wall of their house, a tradition in Egypt to announce a pilgrimage. The day the mural was completed, the children lost contact with her. The family was later informed that she had died, her relatives told. Salama had purchased a Hajj package from a licensed tour operator.

Her nephew Mustafa Mohammed said responsibility for the large number of deaths partly lies with Saudi authorities.

“This year there was negligence, medical negligence. People were dying in the street and no one was helping them,” he told CNN. “Even if some people went on a visa not designated for Hajj, they do not deserve to be left to die in the street without finding medical help.”

Two other pilgrims who recently returned from Hajj told CNN there were insufficient medics or basic facilities to protect worshipers from the effects of the sweltering heat in Saudi Arabia last week. Even those pilgrims who made the journey through official channels said authorities failed to provide enough water, shade or medical support to worshipers.

Some witnesses have told CNN of how they saw worshipers losing consciousness and walked past bodies covered in white cloth.

A 44-year-old Indonesian man who only wished to be referred to as Ahmad, recalled seeing many dying from the heat.

“Along the way home, I saw many pilgrims who died. Almost every few hundred meters, there was a body lying and covered with an ihrom (white fabric) cloth.”

CNN has reached out to Saudi authorities regarding the reportedly inadequate response to this year’s heat and has yet to hear back.

Clamping down on unauthorized pilgrimage

Before this year’s Hajj season started, Saudi authorities warned pilgrims against using agents selling unauthorized Hajj packages and had been in contact with other governments in an effort to crack down on the trend. Authorities had also arrested some illegal agents and issued warnings about penalties for those found to assist unauthorized pilgrims.

Ahead of the pilgrimage this month, Director of Public Security and Head of the Hajj Security Committee, Lieutenant General Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Bassami, laid out efforts to crack down on unauthorized pilgrims in a televised address, saying “the security of the pilgrims is a red line.” Regional papers subsequently said that more than 300,000 people had been barred from performing the rites as a result.

Since the tragedy, Egyptian authorities appear to be clamping down on unauthorized agencies. The government has ordered the revocation of the licenses of 16 Hajj tourism companies involved in making unauthorized pilgrimages to Mecca and has referred their managers to the public prosecutor.

Salem, the 81-year-old Egyptian who died during the Hajj, was buried in the Al-Baqi cemetery in Medina, Saudi Arabia according to an Islamic tradition that a pilgrim is buried in the holy land if he dies during the pilgrimage. His wife plans to return to Cairo Friday after completing the rituals.

Until she returns, Mahmoud said the family “is trying to contact her to calm and comfort her, and to urge her to take care of herself because she is there alone.”