Wrong Man Inside the Coffin
First, the sad part: a Filipino overseas contract worker from Digos City in Davao del Sur was killed in Saudi Arabia by an acetylene tank explosion along with several of his co-workers. This, I can imagine, is the sort of news anybody who has an immediate relative working abroad dreads to ever hear.
Now, as could be expected, the body of the deceased was sent in a wooden coffin all the way from the Middle East to Davao del Sur.
I could therefore vividly imagine the anxiety of the family of the deceased OFW in Digos as they awaited the arrival of his remains. But then, the story took an unexpected twist that I can best describe as simply preposterous.
When the coffin was opened, lo and behold, inside it was not the dead man they were expecting at all. From what I could discern from watching the short news video clip, the body was charred as can only be expected from the tragic accident that happened in Saudi Arabia.
“Eh 5’ 4” lang naman ‘yung namatay,” I think this was the wife who was telling the news reporter, “eh ‘yan (she gestured to the remains inside the coffin) ay 5’ 9”.”
Then she went on, “Tsakâ balbon yan, ‘yun namang sa amin hindî.”
“Eh ‘yan,” I think that was the daughter this time talking, gesticulating towards the body in the coffin, “ay hindî pustiso, ‘yung namatay namin naka-pustiso!” She concluded, “Tsaka dapat may nunal sa likod, eh ito naman walâ.”
The family from Digos, naturally, wanted the remains of the two fatalities exchanged. You would think that something like this would be pretty straightforward; and in all honesty, it should. However, in a story as insane as this one, straightforward just does not apply.
Regrettably, the body of the deceased OFW has already been buried by a Saudi family that thought they were burying the body that was, instead, making a transcontinental journey all the way to Davao del Sur. This Saudi family has been advised about the error has already sent a request to the family in Davao for their relative to be given a proper Muslim burial.
The poor OFW who crossed the oceans just so he could send money back to his family and who was just probably hoping to save enough to one day be able to come home for good now rests in a land far away in a grave that is not even his.
That is so sad.
As for the family he left behind in Digos, never mind that they were so graphic in describing their deceased loved one, I hope they can find a way to attain closure which I, however, know from personal experience can be so difficult without a body to grieve over and subsequently bury.
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