During the Hajj trip in the Middle East, over 1,300 individuals perished from excessive heat, including a couple from Maryland.
In a tweet on X, formerly Twitter, U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks verified that Alhaji Alieu Dausy and Haja Isatu Wurie passed away while traveling to Saudi Arabia.
According to Alsobrooks, the pair took an active part in their local community. A representative for Alsobrooks campaign verified that the woman was a volunteer.
“Alhaji Alieu Dausy and Haja Isatu Wurie passed away during a pilgrimage to Mecca due to the severe heat,” Alsobrooks stated. “Haja Isatu Wurie was an incredibly active member of our community. She was involved in several community organizations, making transformational impacts that were felt both locally and globally. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with their families during this difficult time. Their loss is profound, and they will be deeply missed.”
In the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the couple from Bowie is thought to have passed away from heat stroke in temperatures over 110 degrees.
“All we know is that it was natural causes and someone from the U.S. Embassy advised the natural causes could have been due to heat stroke, which based on the temperature, people were saying it was 110 degrees,” their daughter Saida Wurie stated. “There are millions of people and they have to walk long hours. It was more than likely it was heat stroke for both of my parents.”
For all Muslims who are financially and physically capable, they must perform the Hajj at least once in their lifetime. Numerous affluent Muslims undertake the pilgrimage multiple times.
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The ceremonies mostly honor the stories of Prophet Muhammad, Prophet Ismail, Prophet Ibrahim, Prophet Ismail’s mother Hajar, and Prophet Ismail, according to the Quran, the sacred book of Islam.
Tens of thousands of pilgrims seek to complete the hajj through unofficial means each year since they are unable to pay the sometimes expensive official visas.
Because they were unable to enter the air-conditioned areas that Saudi authorities had provided for the 1.8 million authorized pilgrims to cool off after hours of walking and praying outside, this group was more susceptible to the heat.
According to Saida Wurie, her parents set aside their entire life savings for this trip.
“They saved their life savings, I think it was about $11,500 per person, that they saved their entire lives to embark on this journey,” she stated. “They didn’t receive the proper preparation and proper documents. It was just a nightmare experience of a trip.”
