2024-04-23 09:26:04
The family of Laval resident Faraj Allah Jarjour is in anguish and bewilderment after receiving the wrong remains of their loved one, who tragically died while on vacation in Cuba last month.
Jarjour, 68, died on March 22 after suffering a heart attack while swimming in the sea with his daughter. The tourists were staying at the Mélia Varadero Hotel.
According to his daughter Miriam Jarjour, the situation became chaotic when they did not find lifeguards near the beach and the hotel complex employees were also unable to offer medical help.
Jarjour’s body remained exposed to the Cuban sun for more than eight hours until it was finally picked up by a funeral transporter, since in Cuba the funeral service does not even work for tourists.
After numerous efforts at the Canadian embassy in Havana, the family managed to repatriate Jarjour’s remains to Montreal, investing more than $10,000 in the associated costs. However, the tragedy intensified when the identification documents matched, but the body inside the coffin was not the correct one.
“I was in shock, I was crying. What could I say to my mother?” recalls Karam Jarjour, brother of Faraj Allah Jarjour. The remains sent to Canada turned out to be those of a Russian man, 20 years younger than Jarjour.
While Russian consular authorities managed to locate and repatriate the body of their deceased citizen in Saint Lucia, the Jarjour family remains without answers or news from Canadian authorities regarding the correct whereabouts of their loved one’s remains.
“The Canadian authorities must verify that it is not a t-shirt or something sent by Amazon,” Karam Jarjour expresses in frustration.
The family, devastated by the loss of Faraj Allah Jarjour, continues their desperate search to find the correct remains and finally give the goodbye their loved one deserves.
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