Funeral services in the province of Santiago de Cuba are facing a significant crisis, intensifying the suffering of the bereaved at the critical moment of bidding farewell to a loved one, as reported on social media this Wednesday.
The Santiago resident Yanelis Rodríguez Semanat shared with independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta the harrowing ordeal she experienced this Tuesday when confronted with the shortcomings of this service in Santiago de Cuba, following the death of her aunt.
Mayeta shared this report on Facebook, warning that the main funeral home in the area was overwhelmed with 29 deceased, whose coffins were placed in the hallways and even on the chairs designated for mourners during the vigils.
Rodríguez reported that on Monday at 3:20 PM, his aunt passed away at the Clinical Surgical Hospital, but the paperwork, the autopsy, and the transfer of the body caused them to arrive at the funeral home at 9:00 PM.
"The vehicles being used for transportation are vans or small trucks because the hearses are broken, without brakes, and are throwing out the corpses," the complainant warned, a situation that, although extraordinary, has occurred on several occasions in the streets of Santiago de Cuba.
According to Rodríguez, they were placed in Room I2 at the funeral home, but in the hallway due to a lack of space: "The deceased are even in the hallways," lamented the woman from Santiago.
The complainant described the ordeal they experienced at the funeral home: a lack of seating, a shortage of flowers for the wreaths, and the few that were available were dry. Additionally, there was poor service at the cafeteria, which had no gas to prepare coffee, and it was no longer served in the rooms as was customary, requiring attendees to go to the cafeteria to consume it if it was available.
The painful situation continued the next day, when it was time to bury her relative: “In the morning, we still didn’t know where they were going to bury my aunt; there were five bodies in white shrouds, waiting for calls from the cemeteries to find out their burial plots.”
According to his account, at 7:00 AM, during the shift change, he tried to gather information about the site where his aunt would be buried; however, the explanation was shocking: “There were 21 dead and two more at their homes that needed to be collected. By around 10, there were already 29 dead,” he noted.
Finally, due to the lack of capacity to accept new burials in the cemeteries of Santa Ifigenia and El Caney, Rodríguez had to bury his family member in a graveyard in Playa Siboney, nearly 20 kilometers from the city center.
The crisis in funeral services in Santiago de Cuba is evident in the ongoing complaints made by people on social media.
This week, a man who lived alone in this city passed away, and his body remained in his home for almost 24 hours before the authorities arrived to collect it.
Residents of Diego Velázquez Street in the historic center reported the situation on social media. The case has sparked outrage among the local community.
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