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19 March 2024

Missing UAE resident died of heat exposure, dehydration in Oman wadi

Bushra Farooqui

Published
By Sneha May Francis

A British national of Pakistani origin was found dead in the mountains of Samini in Oman after she broke away from the 12-member hiking team.

According to media reports, she suffered from dehydration and heat exposure.

Bushra Farooqui, a UAE resident, had gone missing last Saturday when she went hiking in Samini mountains.

“We can confirm the death of a British national in Oman and we are providing consular support to the family at this difficult time,” The British Embassy said in a statement.

The Omani police launched a massive rescue operation, which succeeded in finding the rest of the 11 members of the team.

According to media reports “rescuers with the helicopters failed to find her in the first two attempts”.  She was reportedly found at the base of the Samini Mountain near Hatta Border on the third attempt.

Bushra’s brother Sohaib told the Times of Oman, “Faced with extreme temperature, thought to be as high as 50 degree Celsius, she must have quickly run out of water.”

A tweet from a friend read, “Shocked to hear of death of Bushra, founder of InspireInitiate. She gave me a lot of solidarity during 2011.”

A Facebook post read, “Bushra Farooqui tragically passed away while on a Mountain trek in Oman near UAE border on 30 August 2015.

“She will be brought to Karachi for burial. Details will be advised in due course.

“She is one in a million, a true hero who died saving others.”

Her Facebook page is inundated with condolence messages. “One can only aspire to be like her. She has been a source of strength and inspiration to so many near and far,” read one.

Bushra was the founder of Inspire – for the Love of Mountains, a charitable organisation that supports primary education for children in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan.

Her profile on their official website adds that she “has been associated with the financial sector over the last 18 years”.

“She has also worked for London Organising Committee for the Olympic & Paralympic Games (London 2012) where she was heading the International Relations & Protocol Services for the Aquatics Centre as well as the lead for International & Domestic Dignitaries for the Opening & Closing ceremonies at the Olympic Stadium.”

Bushra has been to the base camps of Mount Everest, K2 and scaled Kilimanjaro in Africa. Most of her iconic adventures are captured in her blog. Her last entry records her trek through Mount Kilimanjaro in September, 2014.