{"id":36415,"date":"2025-11-19T12:01:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/?p=36415"},"modified":"2025-11-19T12:15:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:15:13","slug":"son-of-uae-resident-killed-in-saudi-bus-accident-reaches-madinah-he-never-harmed-anyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/19\/son-of-uae-resident-killed-in-saudi-bus-accident-reaches-madinah-he-never-harmed-anyone\/","title":{"rendered":"“Son of UAE Resident Killed in Saudi Bus Accident Reaches Madinah: \u2018He Never Harmed Anyone\u2019”"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The son of an Indian expatriate from Abu Dhabi, who was among those killed in Monday\u2019s devastating bus accident in Saudi Arabia, has travelled to Madinah to provide DNA samples needed to identify his father\u2019s body. Abdul Gani Shirahatti, a long-time UAE resident of nearly 20 years, was one of 45 Indian Umrah pilgrims who died after their bus crashed into a tanker on the route between Makkah and Madinah.<\/p>

Gani\u2019s son, along with his elder brother Farook, flew to Madinah from Hubballi, Karnataka, late on Tuesday after being informed of the tragedy. Speaking to Khaleej Times<\/em>, Farook explained that the family is working closely with Saudi officials and has already given the required DNA samples so that his father\u2019s remains can be formally identified and the final rites carried out. \u201cWe are awaiting further information from the authorities. Our DNA samples have been collected,\u201d Farook said.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Gani departed Abu Dhabi on November 9 for what was supposed to be a brief Umrah pilgrimage. He had been employed as a driver at a hotel in the capital for 18 years and had lived in the UAE for nearly two decades. \u201cHe travelled alone from Abu Dhabi and later met up with a group of close family friends from Hyderabad, as they had coordinated their pilgrimage plans together. After completing the Umrah rituals in Makkah, he boarded the same bus as the group to make the journey to Madinah,\u201d Farook explained.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u201cThat was the very bus that met with the tragedy. We never expected such a thing to occur during a sacred journey,\u201d Farook added.<\/p>

Prior to moving to the UAE, Gani had spent several years working in Saudi Arabia, during which he had already completed both Hajj and Umrah. His brother remembered him as a dedicated, gentle, and sincere individual whose life was largely devoted to providing for his family in Karnataka.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Gani leaves behind his wife, three daughters, and a son. Two of his daughters are married. His son, who is currently in Madinah, works part-time at a clothing store in India after completing a diploma in electrical studies. \u201cThe children were very close to him,\u201d Farook said. \u201cHe spent all these years working in Abu Dhabi for their sake.\u201d<\/p>

Tragic twist<\/strong><\/p>

In an unfortunate turn of events, Gani\u2019s wife had intended to accompany him on the Umrah journey. \u201cHer passport didn\u2019t arrive in time. Otherwise, she would have traveled with him,\u201d Farook explained. \u201cWe are trying to remain strong, but she is completely devastated.\u201d<\/p>

The family shared that Gani had planned to stay in Madinah for a few days, return to Abu Dhabi to complete his work duties, and then travel to India for a long-overdue vacation with his loved ones. \u201cHe told us he would be back soon after Umrah. We were all waiting for him,\u201d Farook said.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Instead of preparing for his return, the family now finds themselves in Madinah, anxiously awaiting the completion of the official identification process. Farook mentioned that they have been receiving support from friends, community members, and authorities, but the waiting has been long and agonizing.<\/p>

Gani had regarded Abu Dhabi as his second home for almost twenty years. He remained loyal to his job, working at the same hotel for 18 years, and built a stable life to provide for his family. \u201cHe led a simple, honest life. He never caused trouble for anyone and always worked hard,\u201d Farook added.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arriving in Madinah, the son of a UAE resident who died in a Saudi bus accident reflected on his father\u2019s character, saying he was a man who never caused harm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_template":[],"top_category":[],"class_list":["post-36415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36415"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36422,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36415\/revisions\/36422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36415"},{"taxonomy":"post_template","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_template?post=36415"},{"taxonomy":"top_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insider18.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/top_category?post=36415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}