A coroner has criticised Qatari authorities for his or her “limited assistance” in his inquiry into the demise of a British lady killed in a hit-and-run automobile crash in Doha.
Rafaelle Tsakanika, 21, from Cambridge, was a passenger in a car that misplaced management and overturned after being struck from behind by a second car travelling at “excess speed” on 30 March 2019.
Rafaelle, often called Raffy, was residing in Qatar along with her household as a result of her stepfather was a building specialist engaged on the constructing of World Cup stadia.
Coroner Simon Milburn concluded that she died because of a street visitors collision, however he couldn’t give an actual time or place of demise due to “the limited assistance offered by the Qatari authorities”.
He mentioned this was “either because a full forensic investigation was never carried out or, if it was, the results of that investigation have never been provided to this court or to Raffy’s family”.
Mr Milburn mentioned that “potential interested parties based in Qatar have taken no part in these proceedings… in spite of engagement”.
During the listening to, various witness statements had been learn out to the courtroom, offered by the Qatari authorities, that the coroner described as “without exception brief and lacking in significant detail”.
The courtroom heard that the motive force of a white Toyota Land Cruiser, Mubarak Al Hajri, had been clocked driving at speeds of 119mph earlier than he hit Raffy’s gray Toyota Land Cruiser, on a street the place the velocity restrict was 75mph.
Al Hajri claimed that he took a name from his spouse and was “speeding up in fear of his son” who “lacked oxygen”. He admitted hitting a barrier, however not Raffy’s car and he did not cease on the scene.
Raffy died from traumatic head and stomach accidents, and her buddy, a Qatari nationwide who was driving, was severely injured.
Raffy’s mom, Jo Sullivan, and her stepfather Donal went to seek for her after they realised she hadn’t returned residence the next morning.
Mr Sullivan advised the courtroom that they instantly went to police for assist however had been “pushed around from pillar to post” and determined to go to the hospital after having a “bad feeling”.
After discovering no info there, they went to the hospital morgue the place they noticed an image of Raffy’s passport on a desk and had been taken to establish her.
Mr Sullivan mentioned they didn’t obtain a “consistent approach” from police, felt they “were being guarded from the processes and the truths” they usually “didn’t trust anybody”.
Raffy’s mom Jo paid tribute to her “beautiful, loving and caring” daughter. She described her as “the best daughter she could have been gifted”, including she was “deeply missed”.
She additionally criticised Qatari authorities, saying they didn’t “place any value on human life”, and described the way in which they’d been handled as “horrendous”.
She advised Sky News: “Having supported that awful country as they were attempting to join the global stage as a major player, I cannot believe the way the Qataris treated us from the moment we found Raffy dead in the hospital mortuary ourselves, with no one in authority offering to help us when she went missing.
“What form of nation would make dad and mom scour hospital wards themselves to search out their lacking daughter.
“The final straw however in our misery was the Qataris not helping the coroner with his inquiry. The Qataris seem determined to condemn us to a lifetime of not knowing how Raffy died.
“All I can do now is warn the world what this country is really like as they try to persuade us all to treat them like a real member of the international community. No decent country treats human beings this way.”
The household’s spokesperson, Radd Seiger mentioned: “It appears, like all the thousands of construction site deaths which they do not bother to investigate, the Qataris treat road collisions involving fatalities the same way. Any country that behaves this way is simply not safe to visit.
He said he was “shocked” that the UK government had not tried to “rectify the state of affairs” and called on Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to meet the family.
An FCDO spokesperson said: “We offered help to the household of a British lady who died in Doha in 2019.”
The Qatari authorities have not responded to a Sky News request for comment.
The court heard that Mr Al Hajri was “topic to prosecution in Qatar”, however Raffy’s household advised Sky News they’d obtained no proof that he had served any sentence.
Source: information.sky.com”