Øyvind Fredriksen was accidentally buried in Gdansk, Poland and the family is waiting for coffin to be returned to Norway.

Øyvind Fredriksen (57) died on May 5th in Tromsø, Norway. SAS shipped his coffin accidentally to Gdansk, Poland instead of Mandal, Norway.

On the way from Tromsø to Mandal, the tragic mistake happened. A coffin that was to be sent to Gdansk was forgotten at Oslo airport while Øyvind Fredriksen’s coffin was sent to Poland.

In the next few days Fredriksen’s son Tomas Friberg was in contact with SAS, who is responsible for the transport of the coffin, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

But he learned that his father’s coffin had been handed over to a Polish funeral agency, which waited for a Polish person’s coffin from Norway. Then the father has been buried in Gdansk.

“We are devastated. We cannot believe this has really happened. I do not think anyone has experienced this before, said Tomas Friberg to VG on Thursday.

After a meeting in Gdansk today, where the Polish and Norwegian authorities participated, the mistaken coffin finally will be sent back to the family in Norway.

“There is now a concrete plan to bring the coffin to Norway. It is a very good news. We talked to the man’s relatives who shared their happiness with us. At the same time, we again expressed our regret, says Knut Morten Johansen from SAS to VG.