A Cape Town businessman died after a car crash in Turkey on his way to do humanitarian work in war-torn Syria.
|||Cape Town - A Mitchells Plain businessman has died while three others are in hospital in a serious condition after a car crash in Turkey while on their way to do humanitarian work in war-torn Syria.
Mustafa Wilson owner of Gafeesa’s Fish Den in Mitchells Plain, was one of 18 delegates who were part of the Darul Islam Relief mission to Syria.
They had travelled under the auspices of the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) to help those affected by the Syrian war.
The delegates left Cape Town last Tuesday and divided into two groups. One group went to a refugee camp in Jordan while the other headed to Turkey, planning to cross the border into Syria by car.
In a statement, the MJC said the delegates travelling by car on Friday, were involved in a crash when the driver lost control and drove into a ditch.
The crash happened close to the Syrian border while the delegation was on its way to A’zaz in Syria.
The MJC said: “The three injured aid workers, Maulana Abdul Khaliq Allie, Hafith Masood and Hafith Sadiq, who were admitted to an ICU ward, have subsequently been moved to a general ward.
“The body of the deceased has been relocated to Istanbul and is under the jurisdiction of the South African ambassador to Turkey.
Arrangements are under way between the Department of International relations and Co-operation (Dirco), the IHH (a Turkish aid agency) and the SA ambassador to ensure the return of the body to South Africa.”
Sheikh Irfaan Abrahams, one of the leaders of the delegation, spoke to the Cape Argus from Istanbul in Turkey on Sunday where he was visiting the injured members of his team in hospital.
He said the three were still in a serious condition.
Abrahams confirmed that two of the members of his delegation who were injured (Masood and Sadiq) were from KwaZulu-Natal while Allie, secretary-general of the MJC, was from Cape Town.
Masood was due to undergo an operation on Monday while Sadiq was in a serious but stable condition.
“I am standing next to the bed of the secretary-general (Allie) at the moment and he is in a stable condition.”
A delegation, which included seven members of the Wilson family, left Cape Town on Saturday for Turkey to help to bring Wilson’s body home and his wife, Gafsa, was also in Turkey.
“His wife is very emotional at the moment, but we are waiting for the rest of the family to arrive.”
Abrahams said they were hoping to have the body back in South Africa by Monday. “But this hasn’t been confirmed yet. We are hoping it will be some time this week.”
He described Wilson as a good example not only for his family but also for his community.
“He was unselfish and had outstanding character. We had an incident here where people had recognised Wilson and his wife saying that they had met them (the Wilsons) through the work they were doing with orphans.”
Abrahams said a few members of their delegation were still continuing with humanitarian work in Jordan.
“They are a hard-working team and the IHH aid workers have been by our side, they have been outstanding throughout the week.”
He said the delegation would continue to work and they were due to arrive back on May 2.
neo.maditla@inl.co.za
Cape Argus