US couple dead during the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia were walking for over two hours in scorching temperature before they succumbed to heat stroke.

Alhaji Alieu Deusy Wurie, 71, and Haja Isatu Wurie, 65, of Bowie, Maryland, were among an estimated 1,300 people who died during the annual pilprimage to Saudi Arabia.

Their daughter Saida Wurie said her parent’s tour group had failed to provide many of the items it promised, including food and adequate water.

The Sierra Leone-born couple went missing on Sunday 16 June, two weeks after arriving in Saudi Arabia.

Days later, the younger Wurie was informed that they had died.

Wurie said that the Hajj pilgrimage was “very important” to her parents, and they had paid $11,500 (9,000) each to go.

“It’s something that they wanted to do their entire lives” she added.

The couple travelled to the Middle East with a group of nearly 100 other pilgrims through an American touring company operating out of Maryland.

According to Wurie “a lot of the things promised to them weren’t provided”.

She also added that they went few days having to find food for themselves, even though the package was supposed to come with meals every.

In their last text exchange-after several missed calls-Wurie said that her parents told them that they had been “walking for over two hours.

Soon after, consular officials and a member of the same tour group confirmed that the couple had died.

With the help of consular officials, Wurie was able to determine which cemetery her parents had been buried in, although they have not yet pinpointed the location within the burial ground.

She said that they don’t have their personal effects, it’s a lot questions, and they need to find some answers.

Wurie said she plans to travel to Saudi Arabia to find where her parents were interred.

She added that the tour company had said it would provide the proper visas and registration for the trip, but failed to do so.

Source:BBC

 

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