Grand old man of Wadi Al Qoor dies

Dubai: The oldest man in Wadi Al Qoor, a place tucked 100 kilometres away from Ras Al Khaimah, died on Wednesday.

Mohammad Salem Khamis Al Ka'abi was around 100 years of age and was popularly known as "the old man of Wadi Al Qoor".

He died at the Dubai Hospital on Wednesday afternoon.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had visited Al Ka'abi at the hospital on Tuesday and gave instructions to the medical staff to give him special care.

Shaikh Mohammad and Al Ka'abi shared a special bond ever since the Vice-President visited him in Ras Al Khaimah in 2008 during one of his tours.

In an interview with Gulf News in December last year, Al Ka'abi recalled how the benevolent ruler had sat beside him on the bare floor and urged him to ask for anything he wanted so that it could be provided.

Elderly and young from the area had gathered to pray for Al Ka'abi, who was buried yesterday evening in the Wadi Al Qoor graveyard. Salem, Al Ka'abi's son, who was with him at the hospital, said his father died at 3pm.

The reason for his death was a severe infection in the chest.

Most respected

Ali Al Niyadi, the supervisor of the Wadi Al Qoor area, told Gulf News that Al Ka'abi was the oldest man in the area.

"I have known him for around 40 years. He was a very respectful person and a forgiving one as well.

"Although he was physically-disabled and could not stand up, he was very welcoming to visitors, even strangers," Al Niyadi said. Mosabah Al Dahmani, a neighbour of Al Ka'abi who attended the funeral, told Gulf News that he had known Al Ka'abi since he was a small child.

"I used to play in the neighbourhood and see him and when I grew up, I used to visit him at home and he would chat with me with fatherly love," he said.

Salem Mohammad, a relative of Al Ka'abi said: "He will be remembered as a kind, humble and simple man. He was never greedy about anything and was content with life's small pleasures".

— With additional inputs from Ahmed Ramzan, Staff Photographer