Death toll among Egyptian pilgrims rises to 19

The death toll among Egyptian pilgrims climbed to 19 on Wednesday, with 27 others currently hospitalized in Mecca, two of whom are in critical condition, al-Ahram reported.

The rest of the pilgrims are in good health, the newspaper reported, adding that there have been no accidents or epidemic breakouts. 

Pilgrims are due to make their way back to Egypt on Friday and until November 5, as Aviation Minister Abdel Aziz Fadel ordered relevant bodies to be on high alert and work on resolving any issue that may face the returning pilgrims. 

Over 78,000 pilgrims are scheduled to return aboard 281 flights from Jeddah and Madina.

As of Friday 12 Egyptians had died during the hajj, the state news agency added, amid sweltering heat and the crush of the crowds, a combination which mainly tends to affect elderly pilgrims, especially if they already unwell.

There were at least 20 cases of hospitalization due to heart problems or high blood pressure while the rituals of the pilgrimage were being carried out.

Pilgrim numbers are sharply down from last year, due to fears linked to the MERS virus and to multi-billion-dollar expansion work at the Grand Mosque to almost double its capacity to around 2.2 million worshippers, AFP reported. Saudi health authorities have stressed that no cases of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus have been detected so far this pilgrimage. The disease has killed 60 people worldwide, 51 of them in Saudi Arabia.