Maryland couple prepared for Hajj pilgrimage, then died in extreme heat

For weeks, Alhaji Alieu Dausy Wurie and his wife, Haja Isatu Wurie, prepared for the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims.

The couple walked two to three miles a day in their neighborhood of Bowie, Md., to get ready for the trip they had always wanted to take together, said their daughter, Saida Wurie. They bought insoles for their shoes. They purchased liquid IVs. They prayed.

But, ultimately, that preparation would not be enough to make sure they made it home safely.

Alieu Wurie, 71, and Isatu Wurie, 65, were among the more than 1,300 people who died in extreme heat this year in Mecca, the birthplace of the prophet Muhammad. Their family says they were failed repeatedly by the Maryland-based tourist company they hired.

Saudi authorities said about 1.8 million people made the journey this year to the holy city where the prophet Muhammad is believed to have recited the first revelations of the Quran. Making a trek to the city is among the pillars of Islam.

But in weather as hot as 110 degrees, proper resources are necessary for a safe journey. Saida Wurie said the trip for her parents, who were part of a group of between 80 and 100 people traveling with the touring company, was rocky from the start. They were not provided with Hajj credentials, leaving them confined to a hotel for days, and the company lacked sufficient transportation. The couple had paid the company $11,500 per person for an all-inclusive hotel, flight and transportation package.

“I think it was a totality of the circumstances,” Saida Wurie said. “The fact that they didn’t have the proper credentials, the proper transportation, they had to walk so long.”

She said that she wants to make sure the tourist company is not able to do that to anyone else: “Our family has to grieve in this way. In our religion, they do believe that if you die in the Holy Land, it’s a beautiful thing, but there are several things that could have been avoided, so I’m just hoping they don’t operate again.”

Ehajj and Umrah Tours, a Silver Spring-based company established in 2022, is not in good standing with the state after failing to file required annual reports to the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, according to public records.

The tour company is registered to an address at an apartment complex in Silver Spring. That apartment unit has also been subject to five complaints for failure to pay rent since February 2023, with the latest complaint filed in May.

Mohamed Bah, the registered agent for the tour company and defendant in the rent cases, is also listed as the registered agent for a second company called Embese for Hajj and Umrah, which was created in 2017 and is also not in good standing. Bah did not immediately respond to inquiries on Monday.

A Facebook page and website for the tour company have been taken down, but a cached version of the website shows the company offered visa processing services for customers looking to travel to Saudi Arabia, and two travel packages for pilgrimages to religious sites in Mecca and Medina.

A State Department official told The Washington Post: “We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss. Our team in Saudi Arabia is working around-the-clock to respond to U.S. citizen concerns and provide assistance to the families of those who have died.”

The couple were pillars in their Prince George’s County community, remembered for their civic engagement, family values and fight for social equity. To their family, they were the easygoing, cool dad and strong, energetic mother, instilling faith and values in their home.

Saida Wurie said her family communicated with her parents through a group chat, where they sent photos of their smiling faces. Back in the United States, she said her family was looking up flights for the couple to return home because of the difficulties, but her parents persisted by faith.

“They’re like, ‘No, maybe this is just a struggle that God wants us to go through in order to make it,’” she said. “‘Let’s be patient’ is what my father would say.”

The couple left for the pilgrimage on June 5, and the trip was planned to last until June 23, with visits to Jeddah, Mecca and Medina. Saida Wurie said the family received word on June 16 that her parents were possibly missing.

For the next two days, the family contacted the U.S. Consulate General’s Office, were in touch with people on the ground, and called local hospitals. The family heard from the U.S. Embassy, which confirmed Alieu Wurie’s and Isatu Wurie’s names and passports were among a list of deceased people, Saida Wurie said. They had died on June 15.

The report says “natural cause of death,” Saida Wurie said, and the family has been advised by officials that this could mean heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

Saida Wurie said that on the day her parents died, she had last heard from them that they had been waiting three to four hours for transportation to Mount Arafat, symbolizing the successful completion of the Hajj, and ultimately decided to walk with a group up to the mountain to offer their prayers.

The last text from her mother read: “Sorry my love We have been walking since the last time you called Over 2 hrs!! smh.”

The memory of the spiritually yoked couple and the impact they had for Sierra Leoneans will never be forgotten, friends and politicians told The Washington Post in interviews.

Wala Blegay (D-District 6), one of the three current Prince George’s County Council members who are of African immigrant ancestry, met Wurie as she was trying to connect with the Sierra Leonean community. Wurie acted as a maternal conduit for one of the rising populations in Prince George’s County, guiding Blegay on what to wear at masjid, when to bow and where to be seated among women. Isatu Wurie was always eager to find ways to connect those among the African and Islamic diaspora to matters within the county, Blegay said.

Isatu Wurie and Alieu Wurie both came from well-known families with names attached to great achievements in education and business in Sierra Leone, said Imam Teslim Alghali of Sierra Leone Muslim Jamaat, located in Prince George’s County.

Alghali said that Isatu Wurie believed in diversity and inclusivity and that she was always ready to merge the two, especially if it meant helping her community in Prince George’s County.

The religious leader has fond memories of working with her on coronavirus messaging during the pandemic, where they partnered with the county executive’s office to figure out the best way to reach the immigrant and Muslim community, Alghali said.

The hole that the couple leaves behind will be difficult to fill, but Alghali said it’s some consolation in knowing that they died in service to God despite the sadness many are feeling.

“The most important thing was the intention to say, ‘I want to do this for the sake of Allah because he instructed me to do so,’” he said, adding that there is belief they are both in heaven. “They were together a long time with beautiful children, happy family, but this happened to them. There’s belief that there’s love to eternity. This is a good example. They will continue that to eternity by the will of Allah.”

For as long as Saida Wurie could remember, her parents were involved in civic engagement, attending local campaign meetings and canvassing during elections. The Sierra Leonean couple met through their mothers, who were best friends. Alieu Wurie moved to the United States in the ‘80s, and Isatu Wurie joined him after finishing nursing school in London. Both attended universities, and Isatu Wurie retired as a registered nurse and Alieu Wurie owned his own nursing agency. They have three children - Saida, who is 33 and an attorney, and her two older brothers. The couple also had four granddaughters.

Saida Wurie said the family hopes they can retrieve her parents’ belongings, the two fanny packs they left with, and locate their burial site. They had a prayer service at their home in Bowie and will hold a memorial in July.

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Razzan Nakhlawi contributed to this report.