News: Two life-long UAE friends lived together… died together

Two elderly Emirati men in the northern emirates have gone further than the famous saying “a friend in need is a friend indeed” when they died on the same day to make it “a friend in life is a friend in death”.

The sad story took place in Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah on Friday and sent waves of grief through residents who had always known the two as close friends.

The two had agreed to meet at a wedding in Ras Al Khaimah as they used to go together to almost every social event, but had certainly not realised they were on a rendezvous with death this time.

Obaid Khalfa Al Kaabi, a 60-year-old Emirati from Ajman, told his friend Salim Nayem Al Kaabi, 66, he would go ahead to the wedding in Ras Al Khaimah and wait for him there.

Obaid sat waiting for at least two hours, but there still was no word from Salim.

“Salim met with an accident on the way to the wedding and was rushed to hospital. Doctors tried to save his life but he died,” Emarat Al Youm daily said.

“Obaid was still waiting at the wedding when he was told that his friend had died in an accident.

“He could not stand the shock and collapsed at the wedding. Obaid was rushed to the hospital but his heart stopped and he died.”