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For almost a month, an Edmonton family has been struggling with the grief over their son’s death while on vacation in the Caribbean and the frustration of trying to bring his body home.
Noman Hayati, 23, died in a car crash on March 26, just two days into a two-week vacation in the Dominican Republic. He was a passenger on a drive to explore the region when the car crashed and caught on fire.
His body was burned beyond recognition along with his personal documents, according to his family. The driver of the car survived.
The family told CBC News that it led to challenges with identifying the body.
“They took me to the body that was my nephew and it was completely unrecognizable,” Hayati’s uncle, Mostafa Siddiqi, told CBC’s Edmonton AM.
Siddiqi had travelled to the Dominican Republic within hours of hearing the news in hopes of bringing his nephew home. It was the first of many efforts to repatriate Hayati’s body.
“We were taken to the morgue. There were flies all around. The smell was very strong,” he said.
Eventually, Hayati’s identity was confirmed and the family was able to receive a death certificate after a DNA test and dental X-ray verification.
‘Problem with the registration’
Siddiqi believed the process to return Hayati’s body would begin shortly after.
“That didn’t happen. A week passed. We called the funeral home and they said there was a problem with the registration. They said they cannot release the body of my nephew,” Siddiqi said.
“Then the funeral home said this is out of our hands and we cannot do anything.”
The family credits Hayati’s mother, who recently travelled to the Dominican Republic, for finally getting the process moving.
“She said if no one listens to her, she was going to go on the street and protest,” said Shaista Siddiqi, Hayati’s aunt.
Once Hayati’s mother arrived at the funeral home, she was told the process to repatriate her son was again in motion, said the family.
The registration office in the Dominican Republic hadn’t begun until recently to process the necessary documentation to begin the process of transferring his remains to Edmonton, family representatives said.
In a statement to CBC News, Global Affairs Canada said it is “aware of the death of a Canadian citizen in the Dominican Republic.”
“Consular officials are providing consular assistance and are liaising with local authorities. Consular services are tailored to the needs of the situation.”
Global Affairs Canada said privacy considerations prevent any further information from being disclosed.
CBC News contacted the Embassy of Canada to the Dominican Republic but did not hear back by publication time.
No chance to mourn
His father, Hamid Hayati described Noman as a kind, caring and hardworking person.
“He was a good man. He was a good student. He was a good soccer player,” Hayati said.
They say his remains are expected to arrive home on Friday.
They still have concerns about the process and confusion around why the process took nearly a month.
“It feels like relief. For the last three weeks we haven’t had a chance to mourn,” said his uncle. “It cost us a lot of time, money and pain to get things done.”