4th Filipino pilgrim also succumbs to heart attack in hajj
By AJ Siytangco
Published Jul 27, 2019 09:35 am
By Ali Macabalang
COTABATO CITY – Another Filipino pilgrim died, also of heart attack, on Friday in Makkah (Mecca), Saudi Arabia, bringing to four the number of deaths among the over 7,000 Philippine hajj goers in just a week.
The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) identified the latest fatality as Abdulnasser Hosain Banto, 62, a native of Taraka, Lanao del Sur serving as imam in a community mosque in Cagayan de Oro City.
(National Commission on Muslim Filipinos / MANILA BULLETIN)
Banto complained first of chest pains and difficulty in breathing after performing prayers at his hotel in Makkah, prompting fellow pilgrims to rush him to nearby Al Noor Hospital where he expired few minutes later, NCMF spokesman Jun Alonto-Datu Ramos said in an online post Friday afternoon.
NCMF hajj medical team leader Dr. Abdulnasser Masorong has traced Banto’s death to cardiac arrest, similar to the cause of earlier deaths of three other Filipino pilgrims.
Pilgrims Bailani Sakandal Dalandas, 70, female, and Enting Tungao Kamensa, 66, male, both of Datu Piang town in Maguindanao; and Sarapia Abalimbona Taha, 57, female, from Lumbayanague, Lanao del Sur, also succumbed to heart attack in different places of Makkah only July 23, 20 and 19, respectively.
After undergoing the required religious baths and documentary processes, the bodies of all four deceased pilgrims were immediately buried in the Holy Land of Makkah under Islamic rites, which prescribe for burial within 24 hours of death.
Accompanying kin and hajj sheikhs have reportedly requested for the burials in Makkah based on the deceased’s expressed wish prior to departure from the Philippines.
The Saudia Airline and Oman Air have booked 7,325 Filipino delegates, 6,973 of them pilgrims in 34 flights starting July 10 until July 31.
“Eighty percent (80 percent) of the current Filipino pilgrims are senior citizens,” Datu Ramos said, hinting at a local tradition among ethnic Muslim communities in the country of preferring family members’ performance of hajj at an elder age.
Many ethnic Muslim Filipinos, according to Islamic clerics, usually perform hajj in elder ages because their families have already accumulated enough fund for the annual Islamic pilgrimage, and more importantly, wish for their death and burial in the Holy Lands.
They believe that on the Day of Judgment, all human beings would rise at their respective graves and trek towards Mt. Arafat, one of hajj ritual sites in Saudi Arabia, where the God would place His “throne” to judge the worldly deeds of every individual.
In the 2018 hajj, according to earlier NCMF reports, six mostly elder Filipino pilgrims succumbed to heart attacks and old age ailments, three of them aboard aircrafts. The bodies of all six pilgrims were buried in Saudi Arabia, the NCMF said.
Meanwhile, Datu Damos said NCMF Secretary Saidamen Pangarungan and his entourage as amirul hajj (delegation chief) took their flight to Saudi Arabia Friday.
On the same day, Datu Ramos said, close to 300 pilgrims, including a centenarian, also flew to Saudi Arabia.
The centenarian, named as Toma Kiram of Maguindanao, “listened attentively during the pre-departure orientation, and appeared very determined for hajj performance,” Datu Ramos said.
(National Commission on Muslim Filipinos / MANILA BULLETIN)
Banto complained first of chest pains and difficulty in breathing after performing prayers at his hotel in Makkah, prompting fellow pilgrims to rush him to nearby Al Noor Hospital where he expired few minutes later, NCMF spokesman Jun Alonto-Datu Ramos said in an online post Friday afternoon.
NCMF hajj medical team leader Dr. Abdulnasser Masorong has traced Banto’s death to cardiac arrest, similar to the cause of earlier deaths of three other Filipino pilgrims.
Pilgrims Bailani Sakandal Dalandas, 70, female, and Enting Tungao Kamensa, 66, male, both of Datu Piang town in Maguindanao; and Sarapia Abalimbona Taha, 57, female, from Lumbayanague, Lanao del Sur, also succumbed to heart attack in different places of Makkah only July 23, 20 and 19, respectively.
After undergoing the required religious baths and documentary processes, the bodies of all four deceased pilgrims were immediately buried in the Holy Land of Makkah under Islamic rites, which prescribe for burial within 24 hours of death.
Accompanying kin and hajj sheikhs have reportedly requested for the burials in Makkah based on the deceased’s expressed wish prior to departure from the Philippines.
The Saudia Airline and Oman Air have booked 7,325 Filipino delegates, 6,973 of them pilgrims in 34 flights starting July 10 until July 31.
“Eighty percent (80 percent) of the current Filipino pilgrims are senior citizens,” Datu Ramos said, hinting at a local tradition among ethnic Muslim communities in the country of preferring family members’ performance of hajj at an elder age.
Many ethnic Muslim Filipinos, according to Islamic clerics, usually perform hajj in elder ages because their families have already accumulated enough fund for the annual Islamic pilgrimage, and more importantly, wish for their death and burial in the Holy Lands.
They believe that on the Day of Judgment, all human beings would rise at their respective graves and trek towards Mt. Arafat, one of hajj ritual sites in Saudi Arabia, where the God would place His “throne” to judge the worldly deeds of every individual.
In the 2018 hajj, according to earlier NCMF reports, six mostly elder Filipino pilgrims succumbed to heart attacks and old age ailments, three of them aboard aircrafts. The bodies of all six pilgrims were buried in Saudi Arabia, the NCMF said.
Meanwhile, Datu Damos said NCMF Secretary Saidamen Pangarungan and his entourage as amirul hajj (delegation chief) took their flight to Saudi Arabia Friday.
On the same day, Datu Ramos said, close to 300 pilgrims, including a centenarian, also flew to Saudi Arabia.
The centenarian, named as Toma Kiram of Maguindanao, “listened attentively during the pre-departure orientation, and appeared very determined for hajj performance,” Datu Ramos said.