MADRID, Spain. – The family of Faraj Jarjour, the Canadian tourist who died in Varadero, Cuba last March, has finally received an answer about the whereabouts of their loved one.
This Thursday, the Jarjour family revealed that Cuban authorities made a serious mistake by sending Faraj Jarjour’s body to Russia, where he was buried in a city north of Moscow. Faraj Jarjour, a 68-year-old Canadian citizen of Syrian origin residing in Montreal, suffered a heart attack on March 22 while on vacation in Varadero with his family.
The confusion began when the Canadian funeral home that received the remains from Cuba notified Jarjour’s children, Miriam and Karam, that the body did not belong to their father. After a series of communications between Canadian and Cuban authorities, it was discovered that Jarjour’s body had been mistakenly sent to Russia.
The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, got involved in the case and spoke with her Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodríguez, in an attempt to resolve the situation.
Finally, it was confirmed that the body of Faraj Jarjour had been buried in Russia, without the knowledge of the deceased’s family in that country. Given this situation, the Canadian authorities have assured that the body will be exhumed and repatriated to Canada.
Despite the relief of knowing where the body is, the Jarjour family faces new uncertainty about when the remains can be repatriated from Russia, as this will require the exhumation of the already-buried body.
The family of the deceased who died while in Varadero had paid $10,000 for the repatriation of Faraj Jarjour’s body from Cuba, but instead received the body of a Russian citizen 20 years younger. Miriam Jarjour, Faraj’s daughter, described the shock of discovering that the body they received looked nothing like her father.
This tragedy added to the difficulties faced by the Jarjour family since the death of Faraj in Cuba. Due to the absence of a doctor at the hotel where they were staying, the family had to wait hours for emergency services to transport the body. Then, they had to return to Canada while the body remained in Cuba, waiting for the necessary documents to repatriate it.
Although the family faces new obstacles in the repatriation process, Miriam Jarjour expressed her relief at finally knowing where her father’s body is, although unfortunately in a different country than desired. “At least we know where it is. It’s not easy for us,” Miriam Jarjour told the Canadian media TVA Nouvelles.
The family hopes that this situation will be resolved as soon as possible so they can say goodbye to Faraj and find proper closure to this painful experience.
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