Family of Canadian Man Struggles to Find His Body After Mix-Up in Cuba

The family of a Canadian man who died in Cuba a month ago, is still looking for his body. The 68-year-old died of a suspected heart attack on a family holiday, but the body sent to Canada was not his.

Faraj Jarjour’s family says another man’s body has been sent to Canada. Jarjour, who fled the war from Aleppo, Syria, stayed with his family in 2016, at a resort in Varadero. He was there with a dozen other family members when tragedy struck on March 22.

“I heard my sister screaming,” his son Karam told Canadian public broadcaster CBC. “I saw her in the sea and my father floating on the water,” he says. They tried to bring their father back on the beach, but that was in vain. Seven hours later, Jarjour’s body was taken to Havana, where the nearest morgue was located.

The family then contacted Canadian consular services in Cuba. They were then advised to travel back to Canada and contact authorities there to arrange for Faraj Jarjour’s body to be moved home. The family paid the transport costs of around 7,000 euros, but they were not told where the man’s body was after several weeks had passed. Finally there was news: his remains would arrive on April 18.

But when the funeral home in Laval took the box to a laboratory, the man’s body looked nothing like the picture the family had given. Instead, they found a man with a full head of hair and tattoos who looked at least 20 years younger. According to the BBC, the Russian consulate has now confirmed that this man has Russian nationality.

Anas Fransis, a friend of the family, told the British broadcaster that the body of the unidentified Russian is still in Canada and that the body of Faraj Jarjour is still missing. “The whole family wants to know: Is he still in Cuba? Has he been sent to Russia?” Francis said. “Where is he?”

Global Affairs Canada, which manages Canada’s diplomatic and consular relations, points to Cuba. “It is the local funeral home that handles all aspects of a foreigner’s death in Cuba, including embalming, arranging flights, delivering the remains to the airline and ‘ communication shipping details, “the BBC told the group.

The funeral home that received the wrong group says they are in contact with the Cuban company responsible for its delivery. The search for Canada’s body is still ongoing. It has not been confirmed that Jarjour’s body may have been sent to Russia.

Family friend Fransis says the family wants all the help they can get to bury their father. “It should have been a simple transport. Then the family would have just turned the page and gone on with their lives.”