[UPDATED] WHERE ARE HER ASHES?

SOMEWHERE in TT, a family has an urn containing the ashes of someone they believe is their departed loved one.

However, the ashes are those of Eaulin Blondel.

Her grieving relatives are today wondering where her ashes are.

The confusion was noticed over the weekend, when Blondel’s family went to Belgrove's Funeral Chapel in Tacarigua to wish her a final farewell. But before the funeral began, her children went to view her body inside the chapel – and realised the body in the coffin was not that of their mother.

They told mourners already gathered that the funeral would be a bit later than expected, as there was a “mix-up” that needed to be addressed. Mourners later told Newsday that after a while, relatives returned to the chapel and told them the funeral had to be postponed.

Newsday understands that after searching frantically, officials at Belgrove's told the family that Blondel's body was mistakenly cremated last week Wednesday. The family asked why the other family weren’t perturbed that the person they cremated was the wrong person.

The wrong body was presented last Friday dressed in the clothes sent by Blondel's relatives for their mother, and laid out in the casket picked out by Blondel's relatives.

Newsday called the funeral home last Friday and an official said she was unaware of the incident and promised to return the call with an explanation. She never did. An e-mail was sent to Belgrove's CEO Keith Belgrove, but up to press time no response had been received.

The funeral home was called again yesterday and the receptionist took a message, promising to relay the information to the relevant official, but no one returned Newsday's call.

Contacted yesterday, Blondel's relatives said they would not want to comment publicly until the family makes a decision on the next step.

Blondel's funeral is still on hold.

She was a former librarian and author of a 2003 travel guide to Tobago.

This mix-up came days after a doctor at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex contacted the wrong family and told them that their relative had died. Funeral arrangements had already made to bury the woman. On June 8, patient Kaloutie Sammy, 67, died but another family was called and told their relative, who was being treated for ulcers, had died. The other family began making funeral arrangements, even receiving a death certificate in their relative’s name.

Hours after the call, the mistake was realised and the correct family was contacted. The North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) later apologised to both families and in a media statement NCRHA CEO Davlin Thomas said a preliminary investigation had been completed and extended apologies to both families affected.

Thomas said the NCRHA had improved processes to ensure patients received the highest quality health care, which would include dual verification before relatives were contacted.

This story was originally published with the title "Wrong body at funeral, family searches for real remains" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

SOMEWHERE in TT a family has an urn with ashes of someone they think is their relative, but doesn't. Those ashes belong to relatives of Eaulin Blondel.

The confusion was noticed on Friday when Blondel’s family went to Belgroves Funeral Chapel in Tacarigua for their final farewell. Before the funeral began, Blondel’s children went to view her body inside the chapel and noticed that it was not their mother. They then informed the mourners gathered that the funeral will be a bit later than expected as there was a “mix up” that had to be addressed. Mourners told Sunday Newsday that after a while the relatives told them the funeral had to be postponed.

Newsday understands that after searching frantically, officials at Belgroves told the family that Blondel's body was mistakenly cremated on Wednesday. The family questioned why the other family weren’t perturbed that the person they cremated was the wrong person. The body presented on Friday had the clothes sent by relatives for their mother and she was in the casket picked out by them.
Newsday called the funeral home on Friday and an official said she was unaware of the incident and promised to return the call with an explanation.

She never did. An email was sent to the CEO Keith Belgrove but up to today no response was received. The funeral home was called yesterday again and the receptionist took a meesage promising to relay the information to the relevant authorities but no one returned the call.