A Maryland couple died in a sweltering heat while fulfilling their dream of a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia — and now their devastated daughter is searching for their body.
Alieu Dausy Wurie, 71, and Isatu Tejan Wurie, 65, were last heard from on June 15 when the couple told their daughter that they had been waiting for hours in extreme heat for transport to take them to Mount Arafat.
It was the Bowie couple’s lifelong dream to complete the hajj – the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that earns millions each year and is compulsory for all Muslims who have the means to complete it.
“She saved her whole life to start this journey and she didn’t receive proper preparation, proper documents, just an overall nightmare experience,” said daughter Saida Wurie told CNN.
After hearing last from her parents on the 109-degree Fahrenheit day, Saida said she was contacted by one of the tour group members who informed the family that her parents had died during the trip.
Alieu Dausy Wurie (left), 71, and Isatu Tejan Wurie (right), 65, were last heard from on June 15 as they waited hours in the heat for transport during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia
His daughter Saida Wurie (top centre) said her parents never returned to the hotel and when a member of the group found out they had died.
The cause of death was listed as natural causes, including heat stroke. Now they are trying to trace the remains after the Consulate General’s office told them the couple had been buried.
“We are asking the Saudi government to hold the bodies so that they can travel to Saudi Arabia to at least give their children a proper burial and to be able to identify the bodies,” Saida said. ‘Unfortunately, he’s buried.’
According to AccuWeather, the high temperature in Mecca on June 15 was 109 degrees Fahrenheit and ranged from 109 to 113 for the rest of the week.
“All we know is that there was a natural cause and someone from the US embassy suggested that the natural cause could be heat stroke, which based on the temperature, people said it was over 110 degrees,” he said.
‘There are millions of people, they have to walk for hours, so it is more than likely heat stroke for both parents.’
Saida said her parents had dreamed of the pilgrimage and her mother recently retired from her role as head nurse at Kaiser Permanente in Prince George’s County.
Wurie spent $23,000 on the trip and booked it through a company registered in Maryland, which Saida believes does not really care for his parents.
Wurie spent $23,000 on the trip, but her daughter believes the travel company did not take care of her parents.
It was the couple’s lifelong dream to complete the hajj and Isatu Tejan Wurie (center right) recently retired from her role as head nurse at Kaiser Permanente in Prince George’s County.
The cause of death was listed as natural causes, including heat stroke. The high temperature in Mecca at the time of his disappearance was 109 degrees Fahrenheit
‘Honestly, I don’t think he was properly prepared for this trip. There are groups, maybe up to 100 people traveling in a certain agency,” said Saida.
The couple had been waiting for transport to arrive when they decided to walk. Members of the group said Alieu Dausy had stopped taking a break and the couple was never seen again.
“We received a call from someone in the group who advised us that they had been missing for a few days, that only two had not returned to the hotel after the hajj was over,” said his daughter.
‘I tried to trace her several times on the phone, I was sure the phone was dead, we tried to reach the US embassy, finally the same person who told her she was missing advised her to go to several hospitals and she died. ‘
“I can confirm with the consulate general office in Saudi Arabia that he has passed away,” he said.
Democratic Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks paid tribute to the couple at X.
‘Haja Isatu Wurie is a very active member of the community. They are involved in a number of community organizations, making a transformational impact that is felt locally and globally,” Alsobrooks said.
The couple are longtime Bowie residents originally from Sierra Leone and recently reconciled after separating in the early 2010s, according to The Baltimore Sun.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims with means must complete it at least once
More than 1,300 people have died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, mostly due to temperatures exceeding 100 degrees.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims with means must complete it at least once. It is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world with more than 1.83 million Muslims participating in 2024.
Historically, death has not been common in the Hajj, which sometimes sees more than 2 million people travel to Saudi Arabia for the five-day pilgrimage.
More than 1,300 people have died during this year’s hajj, with the majority of pilgrims walking long distances in the sweltering heat in and around the holy city of Mecca, according to Saudi Health Minister Fahd bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel.
During this year’s hajj period, daily high temperatures ranged between 117 degrees and 120 degrees Fahrenheit in Mecca and holy sites in and around the city, according to the Saudi National Meteorological Center.
Egypt’s government announced on Saturday it would prosecute travel agents for hajj ‘fraud’ after thousands died.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly ordered 16 tourism companies stripped of their licenses and referred managers to the public sector over illegal pilgrimages to Mecca, his cabinet said.
Every year tens of thousands of pilgrims try to perform the hajj through irregular channels because they cannot afford the often expensive procedures for an official hajj visa.
This puts pilgrims without these books at risk of not being able to access the air-conditioned facilities provided by the Saudi authorities on the Hajj route.