Woman Declared Dead During Hajj Returns Home Alive
Accra, Ghana - 5 July, 2025 - A Ghanaian woman, declared dead during the 2025 Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, stunned her community in Accra by returning home alive days after her funeral, exposing a significant error in identification procedures.
The extraordinary case of Fatima Kassim, whose family mourned her loss based on an official death certificate issued by Ghana’s consulate, has prompted calls for a review of protocols to prevent such mistakes during the annual Islamic pilgrimage, which saw over 1.6 million participants in 2025, including some 6,000 Ghanaians.
The incident unfolded during the Hajj, which took place from 4 to 9 June 2025, when Fatima Kassim, a resident of the Madina UN community in Accra, was mistakenly pronounced dead in a Saudi hospital. According to Alhaji Iddi Sumaila, Director of Administration for the Ghana Hajj Taskforce, the mix-up occurred when two women—one on a tourist visa and the other part of the official Ghanaian Hajj delegation—were receiving medical treatment. Without passports readily available for verification, hospital staff and taskforce officials confused their identities.
The Ghanaian consulate, acting on the erroneous information, issued a death certificate, which was sent to Kassim’s family.
"There were two patients there; one had a tourist visa, and the other went with us, but by then their passports were not with them. So we mistakenly gave the one with the tourist passport to this one. Usually, when it happens, it is the embassy that takes control, so they issued the certificate. So we knew that one was gone and one was on admission mistakenly, we exchanged it," Alhaji Sumaila clarified.
Following Islamic traditions, her relatives held a funeral, believing she had passed away during the pilgrimage.On 3 July 2025, Kassim returned home, leaving her family and neighbours in a state of shock and disbelief.
Some residents, gripped by superstition, reportedly fled, mistaking her for a ghost. A family member, speaking to Citi News, expressed a mix of joy and confusion, saying the situation felt like a miracle. "I feel happy and sad because we are still confused about the situation. This is like a wonder."
Alhaji Amadu Sorogho, a member of the Ghana Hajj Taskforce, acknowledged the error, emphasising that the priority was Kassim’s survival. He told local media that the mistaken identity had been resolved, but the incident has raised serious questions about the verification processes for pilgrims, particularly in medical emergencies.
"We have mistaken identity. The most important thing is that the lady is alive and everything is over,'' he stated.
The Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, attracts millions annually to Mecca, with Saudi authorities reporting 1.67 million pilgrims from 171 countries in 2025. Ghana’s contingent, numbering around 6,000, was managed by the Ghana Hajj Taskforce, which oversees logistics, health, and safety for pilgrims.This year’s pilgrimage was notably safer than 2024, when over 1,300 pilgrims died, largely due to extreme heat exceeding 51°C.
Saudi Arabia’s investments in heat-resilient infrastructure, including air-conditioned shelters, misting systems, and enhanced medical facilities, contributed to a lower death toll, with Ghana reporting seven fatalities, all buried in Saudi Arabia per Islamic custom.
