The victim of November’s Kirkop fireworks factory explosion is yet to be released for burial as investigators await DNA tests to confirm his identity, according to his relatives.
Leonard Camilleri, 64, was killed when the San Ġużepp factory was rocked by a series of explosions on November 26 at around 7am.
Camilleri was a keen fireworks enthusiast and also served as the factory’s licensee for several years.
He had quit that role some years back and was less involved in the factory’s work in the past years. But his passion drew him back to the fold, and he had recently taken to lending a hand once again.
When contacted, the victim’s nephew, Larner Polidano, said the family was still in the dark on the ongoing magisterial inquiry and were only told DNA samples were sent abroad for testing.
“We are completely in the dark. All we were told is that the magisterial inquiry has not yet been concluded. But it’s been far too long. We are still grieving his loss and now we’re going to go through it again when his body is released and when we are able to give him the final send-off he deserves,” he said.
Polidano complained that the police were not informing relatives of the developments.
“My mother and I spoke to the police three times. We know it’s him even though we could not identify him. There was someone inside with him at the time and he too told police it’s him. It seems they’re not believing us,” he said.
Rescuers initially could not locate Camilleri and were not sure whether or not he was inside the complex, but they confirmed he was dead four hours later. A spokesperson for the police, meanwhile, dismissed rumours that investigators had found DNA of a second person on site.
“It seems like they want scientific proof it’s him. But this is too much, it has been far too long. Everyone knows it was him. He was an avid fireworks enthusiast who did work that no one else wanted to do,” Polidano said.
Camilleri was well aware of the risks working at a fireworks factory entailed as he had already survived a similar blast in the past.
Back in February 2012, he was among two men injured when a similar explosion blew ceilings and walls off the Kirkop factory as they prepared fireworks in an adjacent room. The men noticed something was wrong and ran away just in time, escaping serious injury.
Friends described Camilleri as a kind man of few words.
“He was always at the każin, he was friendly with everyone,” recalled Francis Zammit, who said his son was lucky to still be alive as he was meant to be with Camilleri inside the factory at the time of the blast. That day he was called in to work.
Polidano recalled how he was close by when the explosion occurred and immediately knew that his uncle was there at the time.
“I called on his mobile phone and he didn’t pick up, which is not usual. I called someone else and he told me my uncle was inside. He was a bachelor and spent most of the time at home with my mother, his sister, so we were very close to him.
“A few days ago, I dreamt he was talking to me. It’s difficult and we have to go through it again when we’re allowed to have a funeral,” Polidano said.