A Canadian family is living a true nightmare after the death of the family’s father, Faraj Allah Jarjour, during his vacation in Cuba, they were sent the remains of the wrong body.
Allah Jarjour, a Canadian of Syrian origin, died on March 22 during a trip to Varadero, Cuba. The 68-year-old man died of a heart attack, and although the family ordered the repatriation of his body to Quebec, his place of residence, the body of an unknown Russian arrived in his place.
The family told their case to the Canadian media The Quebec Journalwhere they expressed their indignation at the negligence and apathy of the Cuban authorities and the Canadian embassy on the Island, in charge of the repatriation of the remains.
According to their statements, no one has yet apologized for this serious mistake, and they have not been able to clarify where the father’s body is now and what happened to his remains, since no one has taken responsibility for the mistake.
“Where is our father? Everyone tells me it’s not his responsibility. But whose responsibility is it? ”Protested Miriam Jarjour, who has been trying to resolve her situation for several days.
The hell of dying in Cuba
Faraj Allah arrived at the Meliá Varadero Hotel in March to spend a week of all-inclusive vacation. However, while he was swimming in the sea with his daughter, the man suffered a heart attack.
There were no lifeguards on the beach, and there were no doctors, nurses or paramedics of any kind at the hotel. Karam Jarjour, the son, tried to revive him, but to no avail, and after he died, employees placed Mr. Jarjour’s body on a sun lounger on the beach while they waited for the funeral transporter.
Like everything that requires fuel in Cuba – transportation, ambulances, etc. – the service took a while to complete, and the man’s body was exposed to the beach sun for 8 hours until they were finally picked up around dusk. That was the last time the family saw the body.
Where is the body of the Canadian father?
The following days, Mr. Jarjour’s relatives made numerous arrangements with the Canadian embassy in Havana to repatriate the body, since they make the connection with Cuba and the companies specialized in this type of transportation.
The family had to spend their savings to cover the repatriation fee of more than $10,000, and although the body was supposed to arrive in Montreal, a month after Jarjour’s death, the family is still waiting for it.
Instead of the father, who had lived in Canada for eight years, the family received the body of a stranger: a Russian man with hair (his father had none), tattoos and 20 years younger than Mr. Jarjour.
“I was in shock, I was crying. What was I going to be able to say to my mother? ”Karam recounted the moment she received it. He explained that the body came with all his father’s documents.
Despite everything, the Russian Embassy seemed more efficient, and upon learning of the case they quickly mobilized to collect the body of their citizen, locate the relatives and repatriate him to their country. Meanwhile, neither the Canadian nor Cuban authorities have been able to identify who was responsible for the error, when the confusion occurred and how to resolve it.
Given the exchange with the Russian body, the responsibility would be that of the Cuban authorities, adding this to the multiple negligence committed by the regime, and to the complaints of foreign tourists on the Island, despite which Canada continues to be the main exporter of tourists to the Island.
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