Somali teenager yet to be buried after tragic death

An 18-year-old teenager who died in a five-storey fall in Marsaskala is yet to be buried – more than two weeks after the tragic incident, the African Media Association Malta said.

Somali Gudon Abdullahi Hassan died on December 6 after falling five storeys from a balcony in Triq il-Hamrija, Wied il-Ghajn. She was initially certified to be suffering from critical injuries but succumbed to her injuries in hospital.

However, even though Somali refugees living in Malta scrambled enough money to give the teenager a proper burial, authorities are yet to give the green light for Hassan’s burial.

Instead, police investigations are still ongoing to verify the cause of death.

The teenager arrived in Malta in August 2013 together with over 125 migrants. After spending four days at sea, the then 17-year-old was detained at Hal Far, spending four months in detention.

After her eighteenth birthday, Hassan applied for asylum and some time later she was granted subsidiary protection and was allowed to leave the camp.

She subsequently started living in a rented apartment in Marsaskala, but on December 6, Hassan – who was still reeling from the death of her sister a few months before – died in a five-storey fall. Her friends attribute the death to the difficult circumstances that she experienced throughout her life.