Mystery as Brit dies hours after arriving in Vietnam: Family fly out ‘to find answers’ after 31-year-old is found collapsed outside a nightclub
Mystery as Brit dies hours after arriving in Vietnam: Family flies out ‘to find answers’ after 31-year-old is found collapsed outside nightclub
- Darren Blair, 31, died hours after arriving in Hanoi, Vietnam
- But the Vietnamese embassy told his family two different stories about his death
- His family has now flown to Hanoi to get concrete answers
The family of a man who died hours after arriving in Vietnam has flown out to seek answers about his death.
Darren Blair, described as a ‘pillar’ of Nottingham through his work with the city’s music scene, died in the early hours of September 26 in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.
His sibling, Catherine Nichol, says Darren’s family has been given two different stories about the events leading up to his death at just 31 years old.
Catherine claims she was initially told by the Vietnamese embassy in London that Darren died in hospital at 5.30am after being found unconscious but breathing outside a nightclub.
But she said the embassy later told her that nightclub staff tried to wake him up after he fell asleep on a sofa in the club.
Darren Blair (pictured) was only 31 when he died in Hanoi, Vietnam
He was on vacation in the country, taking a break after being in Japan for work
In the second version of events, emergency services then took him to hospital and he is said to have died at 6:40 am.
The embassy reportedly told his family that the only belongings he had were his bank card and a key fob to his hotel room.
His family doesn’t know where his phone is, or where his other belongings are.
An autopsy has not yet been performed on his body, leaving Darren’s family with more questions that need answers.
Catherine is among Darren’s relatives who flew to Hanoi on Sunday to press authorities for concrete answers.
‘A million things are going through my head and the embassy isn’t helping me, so we’re flying out to sort this out. We just need some answers,” she said Nottinghamshire Live.
Darren, who worked for eight years at the company responsible for the worldwide Disney on Ice tour, had just finished working in Japan and decided to take a week’s break in Vietnam before the tour moved again.
After arriving in Vietnam on September 25, Nottinghamshire Police visited his parents and announced the news that he had died the following day.
As well as the lack of answers, the family are facing enormous financial pressure as they may have to pay tens of thousands of pounds to repatriate his body.
The family were reportedly given an estimated cost of £20,000 to £30,000 to recover Darren’s body, but they said the final bill to sort out all his affairs is likely to cost £50,000.
A GoFundMe page set up to help pay the costs, has raised more than £22,000 at the time of publication.
This is complicated by the fact that his family does not know whether he had travel insurance at the time of his death.
Catherine described her late brother as a ‘pillar’ of Nottingham. He worked events at Nottingham’s Ice Arena from the age of 18 and managed several local bands while working abroad.
Comments on the family’s GoFundMe page speak to his connection to the city.
It reads: ‘I met Darren last year and he was the best, just a great, great guy. He was always happy and cheerful and will be greatly missed by everyone he met in his exciting life. I considered him a brother and will miss him very much.”
Another said: ‘I remember Darren very well from working with him on I’m Not From London. Thank you, Darren. For all your energy and enthusiasm. It was a pleasure knowing you. You will undoubtedly be missed by so many people.”
MailOnline has contacted the Vietnamese embassy in London for comment.