Durban mom, son among five dead on Hajj pilgrimage
It's emerged a Durban mother and her son are among five South Africans who have died during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
The Department of International Relations confirmed the deaths on Tuesday.
The department explained none of them died as a result of extreme heat that has claimed over 1,300 lives over the recent pilgrimage period.
Fifty-nine-year-old Shereen Khan and her 27-year-old son Ebrahim Khan of Overport died days apart last week.
Mufti Zubair Bayat, who was part of their Hajj group, says Ebrahim died of a suspected heart attack before the pilgrimage began, leaving his mother devastated.
"It was a great shock to her that her young son, with no apparent illness, just passed on so suddenly. It really left her very heartbroken and she kept mentioning this to many fellow travellers that were in the group that 'My heart is so broken, how am I going to return leaving my child behind here’.”
READ: Five SA pilgrims die during hajj period - DIRCO
Shereen fell ill five days later and passed away at a clinic in the Saudi kingdom.
Bayat says both mother and son were buried in Makkah at a special graveyard for pilgrims.
Shaheen Essop from the South African Hajj and Umrah Council says there's comfort knowing their final resting place is sacred.
"From a religious perspective, it is a great honour to pass away during the time of Hajj and to be buried in the holy land in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One mourns the youth of Mr Khan, and we also mourn his mom having endured a situation of that nature, but look how gracious the almighty is by taking close to him and putting them together in a place that is the best of all."
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