UAE | General
Candlelit vigil held as Dubai parents bury their children in France
Nathan and Chelsea D'Souza, who died of suspected food poisoning in Dubai, were buried in France on Monday by their grieving parents, although Dubai Police have yet to release the autopsy results.
- By Mahmood Saberi, Senior Reporter
- Published: 12:31 June 29, 2009
- Organizer of a candlelit vigil at St Mary's Church on Sunday night for the two children who died of suspected food poisoning said the prayer meeting was to make people aware that they cannot be complacent.
- Image Credit: Arshad Ali/Gulf News
Dubai: Nathan and Chelsea D'Souza, who died of suspected food poisoning in Dubai, were buried in France on Monday by their grieving parents, although Dubai Police have yet to release the autopsy results.
Their bodies were flown to the hometown of their mother Anne-Sophie. Patrick, their father is from Goa, India.
Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has not yet completed its investigation into their deaths, but the head of the authority earlier asserted that NMC Hospital was negligent in dealing with the case.
The children's mother rushed them to this hospital after a bout of vomiting and stomach cramps. She and the children had ordered a takeaway meal from a restaurant in Al Ghusais.
The hospital partner, on the other hand, said this was a personal opinion of the DHA director Qadi Saeed Al Murooshid, and that it was only conjecture as the investigations were still going on.
On Sunday night the organiser of a candlelit vigil held at St Mary's Church for the children, Nathan, five and Chelsea, seven, said the prayer meeting was to make people aware that they cannot be complacent.
"Dubai is our home, if the hospital is found guilty of negligence, what next?" asked Audrey Fonseca, who initiated a Facebook group for the children. The number of members is steadily growing and is now 4,500.
Fonseca's daughter Anoushka, who was very close to Chelsea, went with her father to the funeral. Fonseca said the children's deaths had affected a number of children. "Newspapers should have printed advice to parents on how to counsel their children," she said.
Sheffield Private School where the children studied is bringing out two memorial books. A memorial was set up near the grotto inside the church and after prayers, mourners sang the Elton John song Candle in the Wind, adapted to mark the passing away of the two children: "And even though we try/The truth brings us to tears..."
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