A Haj pilgrim from Chennai,presumed dead by his family,has been found alive at a hospital in Mecca,the Saudi media reported Wednesday. Barkatullah had come with his wife Badarunnisa to Mecca for Haj,but the two were separated on the first day of the pilgrimage. She presumed that her husband may have died after four days of futile search. Others from her group reached the same conclusion,and the family arranged for conducting ceremonial final rites in Chennai,cancelling Eid celebrations. I was in a state of shock, she was quoted as telling Arab News. I was praying for my husbands soul to rest in peace and I called the family back home in India to inform them to do the same. But late Tuesday,India Fraternity Forum (IFF) volunteer Ashraf found an elderly man at the ICU of King Abdullah Medical City. Hospital authorities subsequently managed to track down Badarunnisa and inform their son in India about his fathers condition. The wife in Mina and the son in India both took some time to realise that their beloved one is alive, Arab News quoted the IFF volunteer as saying. It was amazing to know that Saudi authorities are providing such degree of care to foreign pilgrims, she said. Barkatullah had been taken to Arafah by the Saudi paramedics in an ambulance ,the report stated.
