Egypt’s Ministry of Health announced on Friday night the death of the sixth Egyptian pilgrim in the holy places in Saudi Arabia, as a result of a cardiac arrest due to the huge crowds at the holy places.
According to a statement from the ministry, the sixth dead pilgrim is named Ali Abou Zaid Hegazy (67 years) from Dakahlia governorate and was member of the pilgrimage mission of the Ministry of Interior lottery.
Khaled Mogahed, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, said that the pilgrim had died at the holy Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca and was transferred to Ajyad Hospital for the needed procedures.
Last year, 110 Egyptian pilgrims died during the pilgrimage season—105 of them died in Mecca, while the rest were in Medina.
The total number of Egyptian pilgrims this year is 78,000, including 36,000 pilgrims traveling through tourism companies, while the rest is divided between lottery pilgrims and pilgrims traveling via Egyptian civil society programmes.
