Despite an apology from the city, issues that prevented a Muslim family from burying an 18-year-old loved one at a Thorold cemetery last weekend have yet to be resolved.

But Imam Asad Mahmood of Mosque Aisha is optimistic changes may yet be made.

The city posted a statement on its website late Thursday, formally apologizing after the city would not accommodate the burial of Alina Masud, 18, who died as a result of a crash on Highway 406 in St. Catharines on Dec. 3.

As her grave was being excavated at Thorold’s Lakeview Cemetery Saturday morning — hours before she was to be buried there — the family was told the grave’s location contravened a bylaw that prevented the sale of plots in unopened sections of the cemetery.

An alternative plot offered by the city did not meet the needs of the

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