MINA, 14 January 2006 — “Oh Merciful God, please rid me off this stampede!”
These were the words of Saja, a seven-year-old Sudanese girl who was separated from her family during Thursday’s fatal stampede at the Jamrat.
The girl was reunited with her family yesterday after they read the report of her story in Alsharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News. Her happiness was doubled after finding out that her mother survived the stampede unscathed.
“I lost track of my wife and three daughters during the stampede,” said Al-Tayeb Adam, the girl’s father. He managed to find his wife and two daughters, but Saja went missing.
“I took my family and handed them to a police officer and went back looking for Saja,” said Adam. “I had to walk 14 hours all over Mina and through lost and found centers but without any result. I was devastated.”
Abdul Rahman Abdurabu, a young Sudanese man who had gotten entangled in the stampede but emerged without injury, pulled Saja out of a mass of wounded and dead people. She was crying that her mother had died. “I had to jump over dead bodies to pick up the confused young girl,” he said.
Abdurabu took the girl to the lost and found center. She did not have any information about her family. “I gave the (Saudi Boy) Scouts my number and took responsibility of keeping her with my family until we could find her parents,” he said.
After reading about the account of the lost girl in Asharq Al-Awsat, Adam ran to the lost and found center. An official at the Scout center contacted the media center of Saudi Research and Publications Company to ask where they can find the girl.
The family went to the scout center where they reunited with their daughter.
“Unfortunately, her mother is in Makkah now, but both mother and daughter broke into tears when they learned that they were both alive,” Adam said.
He was very grateful to the Sudanese family who took care of his daughter. “I can never repay them for their kindness,” he said.
“As soon as I was separated from my family I was praying to God to take care of me,” said Saja.
