Fijian Killed In Kuwait Accident
MOTHER: HIS FAMILY WAS NUMBER ONE TO HIM. HE CALLED US EVERY DAY IN THE MORNING, MIDDAY AND IN THE NIGHT
Afamily at Charles Street, Toorak, Suva, were left devastated yesterday after receiving news that their “free spirited” son, uncle and father died in a road accident in Kuwait on Friday.
Josefa Salabogi, 26, had been working for an unnamed oil company in Kuwait when the accident happened on Friday July 20 at about 2am, Kuwait time (11am Fiji Time). Katalaini Tokalauvere said her son’s death came as a “terrible shock”, although they have had some comfort from their fond memories of Josefa.
She described her son as someone who had a kind and loving heart. “Isa na luvequ,” (oh, my son) she grieved.
Mr Salabogi left Fiji in 2013 to join the company in Kuwait and had never returned home since.
“I am still waiting for him to come as he promised to visit us this December,” Ms Tokalauvere said. “He was working on building our house at Cunningham and he told me that he was going to make sure he furnished the house and bought us a car when he returned. He was to send money next week for the floor and the walls of the house, but now my son is gone.
“His family was number one to him. He called us every day in the morning, midday and in the night.” Ms Tokalauvere said yesterday when they were trying to call her son, his phone was ringing and calls were directed to voicemail. When they never received any response from Mr Salabogi, they were worried.
Ms Tokalauvere said one of her cousins also working in Kuwait called them yesterday to relay the sad news.
“When my cousin called, she asked how I was doing and my response was; ‘is Josefa dead?’ “Then she told me that they just returned from the mortuary.” Ms Tokalauvere said they were told that her son drove at that early hour of the morning to take care of something. Upon returning, few metres from his workplace, his car tumbled and he died on the spot.
The details of the incident are still sketchy. “Oilei sa lekaleka ga na bula nei
luvequ (Oh no, my son lived a really short life).”
Ms Tokalauvere said her son was a citizen in Kuwait and it was his fifth year working there.
He studied at Dudley High School and after two years at the University of the South Pacific, he got his papers done and left in 2013. “We are so incredibly proud of him and we are so sorry that he is no longer with us,” Ms Tokalauvere said.
“But we feel that in those 26 years my son lived his dream. “He has done more in his short life than most do in a lifetime and that is some comfort for us.” Ms Tokalauvere added that she asked herself why her son left in the first place.
“He was known for always having a smile on his face. He was very laid back and free spirited. And so unpretentious. He not only takes care of his family, but also his close friends. That’s what I loved about him.”
Josefa was single and had a 10-year-old son who stays with his family in Toorak.
He was also survived by his parents and five siblings.
Plans are still underway to convey Mr Salabogi to Fiji for burial.