Kenyan woman, Slaida Vuguta, body was ‘forgotten’ in transit and left at Germany’s airport. She died in Saudi Arabia on January the 29th and was having her body taken home for burial arrangements when plans had to be cancelled due to the body being left in Germany following a mix up.
Her family arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Tuesday but arrived to find the body missing.
When talking to the Standard newspaper Salida Vuguta’s brother Patrick Talia said that it was disturbing that they travelled all the way from their hometown to Nairobi, the capital, only to be told that the body was not on the plan.
The staff appeared confused when they demanded to see the body and they later informed their driver that the consignment with the body was left in Germany by mistake.
Patrick added that they had hired a hearse on Monday so that the team could have time to rest before reporting to the JKIA.
The family was informed that the body would arrive on Thursday night, but Talia said the owner of the hearse was demanding Sh100,000 (820 Euros or more) the following the delay.
“We were told that the body would arrive on Thursday night but he insisted that we pay Sh40,000 (327 euros) on top of Sh60,000 (491 euros) we paid earlier,” said Talia.
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The family could not understand why there happened to be a mix up and attributed it to a suspected cover up given the fact that the family were informed about her death on march 22nd yet she died in January.
Vugutsa had escaped to the Middle East soon after her form 4 (A-levels) in search of a job in January. This had come as a shock to her family who were planning to take her to college.
Slaida Vugutsa, the last born in a family of six, was found dead in a thicket in Saudi Arabia.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted us about her death in March. We have been agonising about how to get the body back home, until the agent who shuttled her to Saudi Arabia offered to cater for the expenses. Some parts of her body were missing, according to the Ministry of Affairs, and it is not clear why the government did not inform us about her demise earlier,” lamented Talia.
According to Talia, the last time Vugutsa communicated with the family was in August, last year.
“I believe that is the time her troubles began,” he said.
Source: The Standard