Pilgrims recount hajj heat horrors

RIYADH, June 21 (AFP) : After years of failing to secure a hajj visa, Yasser finally concluded he had no choice but to perform the holy pilgrimage illegally, a move he has now come to regret.
While he survived the gruelling annual rites that unfolded in extreme heat again this year, he has not seen his wife since Sunday and fears she is among the more than 1,000 reported fatalities -- the majority unregistered Egyptians like himself.
"I have searched every single hospital in Mecca. She's not there," the 60-year-old retired engineer told AFP on Friday by phone from his hotel room, where he is reluctant to pack his wife's suitcase in hopes she'll be back to do it herself.
"I don't want to believe in this possibility that she's dead. Because if she's dead, it's the end of her life and also the end of my life."
Egypt accounts for more than half of this year's hajj fatalities -- 658 out of more than 1,000 reported as of Friday by around 10 countries stretching from Senegal to Indonesia, according to an AFP tally.
An Arab diplomat told AFP that 630 of those 658 dead Egyptians were unregistered, meaning they could not rely on access to amenities meant to make the pilgrimage more bearable.
That included air-conditioned tents meant to offer some relief as temperatures soared to as high as 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 Fahrenheit) at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam.
Saudi authorities have not responded to requests for comment about fatalities.
The health ministry reported more than 2,700 cases of "heat exhaustion" on Sunday alone, but has not updated the figure since then.
The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, must be completed by all Muslims with the means at least once.
Yet official permits are allocated to countries through a quota system and distributed to individuals via a lottery.
Even for those who can obtain them, the steep costs make the irregular route -- which costs thousands of dollars less -- more attractive.