A father of six who prayed daily for the Iranian assault on the UAE to end has been killed by missile debris.
Ismail Salim Khan, 47, who was also a grandfather, died when a piece of shrapnel hit him as he dashed for cover in the Baniyas area of Abu Dhabi on March 17.
His relatives and colleagues made it to safety but he was struck before he reached a makeshift shelter, his colleagues said.
“We work outdoors and we know we must run to the shelter when we hear the alert. That day we looked up and began running to save ourselves. But shrapnel fell from the sky and hit Ismail’s body when he was just 20 metres away from safety. He was so close, he was the last person outside,” Noor Mohammad, an electrical engineer among 25 people who fled for cover with Mr Khan, told The National.
He was referring to an emergency missile alert in the UAE when authorities send out messages on mobile phones warning residents to seek shelter, stay clear of open areas and windows.
Mr Khan is among eight civilians, two UAE defence helicopter pilots and a contractor for the Emirati military killed in the war that began on February 28 when Iran began firing missiles at Gulf nations in response to attacks by the US and Israel.
The UAE has denounced Iran’s attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure as reckless and unjustified. The country has withstood the most intensive bombardment with more than 370 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and more than 1,800 drones fired by Iran.
‘Panic in our heart’
Ismail Khan was from Nari village in Pakistan’s mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and had lived in the UAE for more than a decade.
He worked as an assistant helper with a contracting company that lays electricity cables in the capital. Part of the excavation crew, he dug up trenches, cordoned off the area for safety, checked the embankments were away from water and sewage lines and helped lay the cables.
Since the team works outdoors, a concrete shelter was built for the men near the boundary wall of a villa community in Abu Dhabi’s Baniyas area. The residential neighbourhood also has a petrol station and a bank in close proximity.
“We reach the site early and whenever we got an alert message, we went to the shelter. That morning we heard the sound of the interceptions. We looked up and began running. The shrapnel hit Ismail before he could reach safety,” said Mr Mohammad who leads the team that Mr Khan worked in.
“We felt panic in our heart, all of us panicked. We feel miserable to lose someone we worked with for so long and for him to die like this.”
The men were shaken to see debris including a large chunk about 80cm in length and about 1.6m in diameter that struck their colleague.
Mr Khan belonged to the Pathan community and worked alongside relatives including his elder son Zubair, nephews and cousins from the same village. His family needed to be comforted and restrained from heading outside until it was safe.
Mr Mohammad recalls how Mr Khan regularly prayed for everyone’s safety particularly since the Iran attacks began last month.
“When the missile attacks started, Ismail would pray for peace. When we would take shelter, he would pray, he said he prayed so no one would get hurt. We would pray with him. He said he was praying so this would get resolved soon,” Mr Khan said.
Loving grandfather
The Pakistani grandfather had one grandson, three sons and three daughters – the eldest son Zubair is 24 and youngest daughter is 18.
His son accompanied his father’s body to Pakistan for the funeral that took place on March 19.
“Ismail loved this country – he would say that the Emirates has given him a lot of love, opened possibilities for his children,” Mr Mohammad said. “He wanted his son to work here and so made sure Zubair got a visa. Ismail was a hard worker, he was often the best performer of the month. If you gave him a job, he would remember all the details. He would put up his hand for any work.”
Mr Mohammad said the death had devastated the community.
“It was a lot of trauma for his son, his family. Everyone has tried to give them love and support. But how do you get through this?”
Recovering from tragedy
Returning to work this week has not been easy.
“We got back to the site after Eid, rain has affected work and we need to work where one of us was killed,” Mr Mohammad said. “We deeply feel Ismail’s loss. All we can do is keep taking care, being safe. We talk about it a lot – we are proud of how the armed forces are intercepting missiles. Every one of us is sad about the deaths but imagine if the missiles had hit, there would be so many more deaths.”
He also spoke of the quick response of the police, civil defence and Pakistani officials.
“In the first few minutes we were numb with shock and then police, civil defence gave us a lot of support. When someone puts their hand on your head, you feel secure – that’s how we felt,” Mr Mohammad said.
“The embassy also helped with everything we needed to get Ismail home.”
Pakistani officials expressed condolences to the family. “We are profoundly saddened by the tragic loss of a Pakistani national in Abu Dhabi’s Baniyas area due to falling debris following the interception of a missile,” the embassy said. “In this hour of grief, we share in the family’s pain and offer our deepest condolences and prayers.”
