When Maria Giraud’s fiancé went missing on Monday afternoon she knew something was wrong and, when she saw a photo of an unidentified man run over in Marsa in the news, she recognised his shoes.

“I knew it was him,” the 21-year-old told Times of Malta from Mater Dei Hospital where his body was finally identified on Tuesday, after his loved ones had to wait an agonising 18 hours to do so.

“He was so special,” she said through tears, soon after it was confirmed that the man who died was Jesús David Reina Quero, 23, from Venezuela.

Jesús David Reina Quero

“Jesús was a chef. He had just gone to take his knives for sharpening in Birżebbuġa by bus but never went to pick them up. I was speaking to him via WhatsApp at 1.29pm. Later I tried reaching him and I spoke to his colleagues who he was meant to meet. He never turned up,” she said.  

This all happened on Monday at about 2pm - the same time as a Marsa accident reported in the media later that day. On Monday, police said a man, who did not have identification documents, died after he was hit by a car while crossing December 13th Road in Marsa at around 2.10pm and was pronounced dead at Mater Dei Hospital.

He was hit by a Mercedes Benz C250, driven by a 66-year-old man from Fgura. A magisterial inquiry has been launched and police are investigating.

When Maria could not get in touch with her partner of four years and realised he was probably the victim of the accident, she went to Mater Dei hospital on Monday afternoon. 

Maria and Jesus

She was told she had to file a police report which she did before heading back to hospital. She was told there was an unidentified body but was not allowed into the mortuary for many hours.

"I used to feel safe in Malta. I'm not talking about the accident. I'm talking about the politics. Why do I have to wait too long to identify my fiance's body?" she told Times of Malta on Tuesday morning.

A spokesperson for the hospital said that when a magisterial inquiry is underway the hospital needs the magistrate’s clearance before allowing anyone to see a body.

It is not clear why there was a delay before the magistrate could give clearance. 

Soon after Times of Malta contacted the police and the hospital for information, Maria was allowed in where she confirmed her worst fears.

Maria recounted how she had been with her beloved fiancee for four years. The couple met in their mother country, Venezuela, and he moved to Malta three years ago before she joined him 10 months ago.