A Maryland couple was among the more than 1,300 people who died during the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, with their deaths attributed to extreme heat.
The couple, identified as Isatu Tejan Wurie, 65, and Alieu Dausy Wurie, 71, from Bowie, Maryland, had dreamed of taking what was deemed a trip of a lifetime in honor of their Muslim faith.
Their daughter, Saida Wurie, confirmed their deaths and told CNN that her parents had exhausted $23,000 of their life savings on an all-inclusive package through a Maryland tour company to be part of the annual Islamic event.
“They saved their whole lives for this,” she told the outlet on Saturday.
Saida said she kept in touch with her parents via a family group chat while they were on their trip. She also learned that the tour company did not provide them with the proper credentials and transportation to participate in the journey.
According to CNN, Isatu and Alieu were among 100 other travelers who didn’t have the appropriate food or supplies to survive the multi-day pilgrimage.
Saida heard from her parents on June 15 when Isatu mentioned they had been waiting hours for transportation to Mount Arafat. She believed her parents were in Mina when they decided to continue their journey on foot instead. The couple told her they had been walking for more than two hours, determined to reach their destination.
Saida said she received a phone call from a man who was part of Isatu and Alieu’s group, confirming they had gone missing on Mount Arafat after her father mentioned needing a break and couldn’t continue. However, multiple attempts to find the couple were unsuccessful.
She later received confirmation of her parents’ deaths from the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah, which stated that “natural causes” were a factor in their passing.
“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,” Saida explained to the outlet, according to People . “There are millions of people and they have to walk long hours.”
Saida also learned that her parents had been buried despite her request to the Saudi government to make other arrangements until the family could arrive.
“We did ask the Saudi government to hold the bodies in order for us to travel to Saudi Arabia to at least give them the proper burial with [their] children being present and to be able to identify the bodies,” she said, per CNN. “Unfortunately, they have already been buried.”
Saida expressed her desire for American diplomats to meet her and her siblings upon their arrival to assist in locating their parents’ burial site and gathering their belongings.
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