Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya in Musina, South Africa
A TOTAL of eight bodies were by the end of day yesterday, yet to be identified by their next of kin in Makhado, Limpopo province, South Africa.
According to the Civil Protection Unit, post-mortems have so far been completed on bodies 20, with several others to be completed today.
So far, 30 Zimbabweans and five Malawians have been identified by their next of kin.
The 43 people perished when a bus travelling from Port Elizabeth to Harare with 68 adults, including three bus crew members and 14 children when tragedy struck along the N1 highway.
Among the deceased are seven children, while several others incurred various injuries during the accident.
The Civil Protection Unit (CPU) said a total of six families left in a Government-sponsored bus on Thursday to assist with the identification processes of the eight remaining bodies in South Africa.
The identification exercise is being carried out by Zimbabwean and Malawian officials working closely with South African authorities and bereaved families.
Deputy Director for Response and Co-ordination in the CPU, Ms Veronica Bare, said they expect the post-mortem on all the bodies to be completed today.
“So far, 20 post-mortems have been successfully carried out and we expect the whole process to be completed by the end of the day on Friday,” said Ms Bare.
“We have arranged a bus, which has left with six family members to assist with the identification of the remaining eight bodies in South Africa.
“With respect to the seven minors, these will be identified through the Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and the process is already underway.”
She said the physical identification of the bodies will begin on Monday once all the post-mortems have been carried out.
Ms Bare said the Government is covering the accommodation and upkeep expenses for the bereaved families during the identification process until the bodies are brought home for burial.
She said medical bills for all the affected Zimbabweans will be paid by the Government at all three hospitals in Limpopo province.
“We have established two Command Centres at Beitbridge Border Post and in Makhado to coordinate all logistics around the disaster,” said Ms Bare.
She said Doves Funeral Services has been engaged to ferry the remains of the deceased back home once all post-mortem and documentation processes are complete.
By the end of the day, the identification of bodies by relatives from Zimbabwe was still underway.
