A Portuguese family expecting to bury a loved-one later today received more bad news early this morning.
The body of 39-year-old logger Jorge Miguel Barbosa da Cunha has ‘disappeared’ and is believed to have been cremated ‘by mistake’.
The mix-up appears to have been exacerbated by the fact that da Cunha died in Spain (as a result of a work-related accident) and his body was due to be transported to Portugal for burial.
A funeral agency tasked with picking up another body entirely came on da Cunha’s in the Vigo hospital morgue and, believing him to be ‘the other body’, simply carried him off to a nearby crematorium.
Say reports today, it’s not even certain that da Cunha has been cremated. But everything points to this having happened as his body has simply vanished.
“It’s a very complicated situation”, said a source described as ‘connected to the case’ which is now being investigated by Spanish authorities.
Da Cunha, originally from Paredes de Coura, was due to have been buried at 6.30 this evening.
Posting a notice online, the S. João funeral parlour has explained the event has had to be postponed for “bureaucratic reasons”.
