Abdul Wali will be thankful to God for two reasons. One for providing an opportunity to undertake the Haj pilgrimage and the second for saving the lives of his family members during one of the two tragedies that overshadowed the pilgrimage.
A businessman from Bhainsa town in Adilabad district, Wali along with his wife and daughter left for the pilgrimage through the State Haj Committee. Recalling the moments just before the crane fell at the Masjid-Al-Haram, the grand mosque in Mecca, Wali said it was a Friday (September 11) and they went to offer Asar prayers at the mosque.
“We offered the Asar prayers and left Masjid-Al-Haram. The weather was rough and we only wanted to rush back. As we neared our camp, a loud noise shook us. Nevertheless, we went into the camp and a few minutes later, we came to know that a crane had fallen on the grand mosque,” he said.
We were lucky that we left the place minutes before the mishap, Wali added.
Mohd Yousufuddin, a teacher from Siddipet in Medak who had gone on a pilgrimage, was all excited to see his family. Equally happy were his family members on seeing him back. “Although our brother called us up many times and told that he was fine, we were under constant fear looking at the gory images of the sites of the tragedy. Every day, the news channels showed some news about Saudi Arabia. We prayed day and night for their safe return,” Nayeem, brother of Yousuf, said.
For Shaik Hussain of Hanamkonda in Warangal district, the pilgrimage was his much cherished dream. “I left it to Allah. If he wanted me to go back, he would send me,” Hussain, a retired headmaster, said. Nevertheless, he is thankful that the mobile networks did not crash after both the tragedies. “We could take the phone call from our relatives and speak to them within minutes of the incidents,” he explained. About 340 pilgrims arrived by the first flight that landed in the morning at the RGI Airport. Another two flights carrying about 680 passengers are expected to arrive late in the night. The flights will continue till October 20.
Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali received pilgrims at the airport. Accompanying him were S.A. Shukhoor, Special Officer, Telangana State Haj Committee; Mohammed Jalaluddin Akbar, Director, Minorities Welfare; G.D. Aruna, Secretary to Government Minorities Welfare Department and other officials.
A total of 5,436 pilgrims who left from Hyderabad include 2,963 pilgrims from Telangana, 1,819 from Andhra Pradesh and 654 from four districts of Karnataka. Among them, 14 persons died during the pilgrimage, two of them were killed in the crane tragedy.
