Pilgrim who died before performing haj was quiet most of the time - son

"Father was quiet most of the time when I was sending him to the airport and asked me to take care of myself and my siblings," said Fakhrul Razi, the eldest son of a pilgrim from Kedah, who died Sunday morning.

The 22-year-old said he did not expect those words to be the last uttered by his father, Kamarulzaman Masaod Zainal, 53, who died before he could perform the fifth pillar of Islam.

"A few days earlier, my father told our family that if a husband and wife get an opportunity to perform the Haj, but the husband dies before departing for the Holy Land, it is obligatory for the wife not to continue the journey as she has to observe the 'iddah' (grace period after the death of the husband)," he said when met at the Kampung Titi Gajah Muslim Cemetery here Sunday.

Lembaga Tabung Haji in a statement said, the pilgrim from Kuala Nerang who was on his way to perform the Haj, died at the KL International Airport (KLIA) yesterday due to complications from high blood pressure.

Kamarulzaman Masaod reportedly fell ill at KLIA after arriving from Alor Setar on Flight KT9K at 12.55am, and was pronounced dead at 6.45am at the Putrajaya Hospital.

His remains arrived at the Titi Gajah Mosque here about 6pm before burial about an hour later.