It’s been a long tragic month for one Edmonton family after their 23-year-old son was killed in a car crash in the Dominican Republic.
The family of Noman Hayati has been struggling to bring the young man’s body back to Canada to grieve.
“He was a hard-working man. He was working like seven days a week. He was a nice guy,” said Noman’s father Hamidullah Hayati, fighting back tears.
Noman’s body was burnt beyond recognition in the crash, complicating things for his uncle Mohammad Siddiqi, who travelled to the island to identify the body.
Siddiqi says the conditions were bad in the developing country.
“The morgue was in a very bad shape,” he said. “There were bodies lying around. There was no air conditioning. They had only one fridge and it was not working. And the bodies were literally decomposing.”
The family’s efforts initially moved in the right direction. They managed to convince local health authorities to move his body to a better morgue in the capital of Santo Domingo. They also confirmed his remains through DNA and dental records once Noman’s mother flew to the Dominican Republic.
Then came the roadblocks; they were told local authorities would not be releasing the body. Siddiqi tells CityNews he was given no clear reason.
The ordeal has forced the family to make multiple trips from Canada to the Dominican and across the country itself to handle the bureaucracy.
“If they want money, they should tell us, give us a clue,” Siddiqi said. “You know, give us a back channel we can send the money.
“Went to the member of Parliament, embassy, the consulate there. They said that we are pressuring them. And the funeral home there said this is not normal. I don’t know why.”
It wasn’t until the family threatened to go public with the story just days ago that they were told Noman’s body is scheduled to be returned to home this Friday.
Siddiqi says the turmoil of trying to bring the young man home has prevented them from properly grieving.
“We didn’t have any time to grieve,” he explained. “Problem after problem, roadblocks after roadblocks. So now that they have the registration and they are releasing the body, we are hoping that it arrives on time. We have to arrange with the cemetery because they are busy. We have to do it as soon as possible because of our religion.”
Noman’s father says he still has questions about the crash that killed his son. Noman was travelling with his friend Alejandro, who was driving and survived.
“The Dominican police did nothing for us, just wrote a few sentences, ‘the accident was this, the truck driver saying it wasn’t my fault, Alejandro saying it wasn’t my fault,'” Hamidullah Hayati said.
“We’re in between, we don’t know.”
Global Affairs Canada tells CityNews it is aware of the death and is in contact with local authorities in the Dominican Republic.