BALTIMORE – A Maryland couple was among more than 1,300 people killed during the extreme heat during the Hajj pilgrimage in the Middle East.
US Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks confirmed in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that Alhaji Alieu Dausy and Haja Isatu Wurie were killed during a trip to Saudi Arabia.
Alsobrooks said the couple were both actively involved in their communities.
“Alhaji Alieu Dausy and Haja Isatu Wurie died during a pilgrimage to Mecca due to the intense heat,” Alsobrooks said in a statement. “Haja Isatu Wurie was an incredibly active member of our community. She was involved in several community organizations and had a transformative impact that was felt locally and globally. Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to their families at this difficult time. Their loss is profound and they will be deeply missed.”
The Bowie couple are believed to have died of heat stroke in temperatures of more than 110 degrees in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
“All we know is that it was natural causes and someone from the US embassy advised that the natural causes could be due to heat stroke, where people said it was 110 degrees based on the temperature,” their daughter Saida said Wurie to CNN. “There are millions of people and they have to walk for long hours. It was more than likely that it was heat stroke for both my parents.”
All Muslims are required to perform Hajj once in their lives, if they are physically and financially able to do so. Many wealthy Muslims make the pilgrimage more than once. According to the Quran, Islam’s holy book, the rituals largely commemorate the stories of the Prophet Ibrahim and his son, the Prophet Ismail, Ismail’s mother Hajar and the Prophet Mohammed.
According to CBS News, the hajj, whose timing is determined by the Islamic lunar calendar, fell again this year during the oven-like Saudi summer.
Every year, tens of thousands of pilgrims attempt to perform the hajj through irregular channels because they cannot afford the often expensive official permits. says CBS News.
This group was more vulnerable to the heat because, without official permits, they did not have access to air-conditioned spaces provided by Saudi authorities where the 1.8 million authorized pilgrims could cool down after hours of walking and praying outside.
Saida Wurie said her parents saved their savings for this excursion.
“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 said. “They didn’t get the right preparation and the right documents. It was just a nightmare experience of a trip.”
