An annual event of pilgrims’ journey to Mecca, Saudi Arabian turned tragically as an old man and his wife from Maryland suffocated to death owing to high temperatures.
Alhaji Alieu Dausy Wurie succumbed at 71 while Haja Isatu Wurie died at 65 as two of the nearly 100 pilgrims who visited the Middle Eastern region to embark on the tour via a Maryland-based company. Morally, another couple was also on the tour that, as their grieving daughter Saida Wurie, said the tour group did not offer many of the amenities it required the couple has to struggle in the scorching heat.
“For a few days, they had to look for food on their own even though the package was also supposed to include food parts three meals a day,”
Saida said . The last SMS received from the couple to their daughter enlightened the lengths they were willing to go: ‘We have been walking more than 2 hours.’
Rain fell throughout the twelfth month of this year, which targeted more than one million persons, and at times hit more than 122 ‘F (50 ‘C), which is very lethal to persons. A statistic of 8 million Shia pilgrims performing the journey. Saudi health officials have drawn a lot of criticism for not doing enough to safeguard all the pilgrims especially those in the unregistered category who have no access to cool the body or the head or get other essentials.
The Wurie couple from Sierra Leone was also give $11,500 each to accomplish their dreams and complete the Hajj pilgrimage. “This is what they wanted to do their whole lives”, was the comment made by their daughter. The two were ecstatic.
Sadly, their delight was followed by shock when the couple was identified by consular officials and another member in the tour group. The missing person’s case of Saida Wurie is today in collaboration with the relevant authorities to find the burial place of her parents, but personal items of her parents have not been retrieved.
This sad story clearly illustrates the potential problems and hazards in the otherwise holy journey of the hajj for all those who wish to undertake this journey, therefore calling on all the civil societies globally to initiate more protection for journeys such as the hajj.
