Emirates Airlines lost a suitcase containing the ashes of a New Zealand man's mother during a stopover in Dubai.

ADVERTISEMENT

John Ozimek of Auckland told the Dominion Post he promised his mother, Kathleen, that her ashes would be scattered in England with his father's. Two weeks after the urn was lost, he remained in Britain, hoping for word it had been found.

"My head is spinning," he said. "It's been so bloody stressful. We were sitting round our hotel all last week, waiting by the phone and checking e-mails. The worst part is no one at Emirates will talk to you. I have not got the faintest idea where my mother's remains are."

When Ozimek and his wife flew to London Aug. 3 with the urn, their travel agent told them it was too big to be carry-on luggage. They put five luggage tags on the suitcase.

An Emirates spokesman said the airline was doing its best to trace the ashes and offered apologies to Ozimek.