adminTanaka Mahanya
A SOMBRE atmosphere enveloped Glen Forest Memorial Park yesterday in an emotional send-off for six Tynwald High School students who perished in a school bus road accident in Nyanga on Friday.
The six were buried side-by-side before thousands of mourners who thronged the cemetery to bid farewell.
Borrowdale Road was congested from 1pm, as cars snaked their way to Glen Forest.
Buses hired to ferry mourners to the cemetery were not enough to carry all passengers, and there was hardly any parking space left.
Tents pitched for the mourners at the gravesides could not cater for even half of the people present.
From the young to the old, the cemetery was packed with mourners who believed the accident could have been avoided had the driver been more careful.
“This is every parent’s worst nightmare, no parent deserves to bury their own child,” remarked one of the mourners.
It was an emotional moment for relatives, friends, churches and students.
Tynwald High students came in their numbers to pay their last respects to their departed friends.
Among them were survivors of the tragic accident.
Bereaved families could still not believe that their children were no more.
They stood sobbing, in front of the coffins of the six, and placed single roses on each.
Floral tributes, and messages, reflected an outpouring of grief from the community of Westlea, where Tynwald High is located, and from other neighbourhoods, where the students lived.
“She did not bid farewell when she left home for the trip.
“I thought she would come back and we would be happy as usual, “ said Beyonce Guyo’s younger sister.
When the coffins were lowered down to their final resting place, mourners could not hold back their tears.
Most wept loudly after the realisation that they would never see their children and friends again.
Mourners departed from Glen Forest at 4pm, leaving the six young angels at their final resting place.
And, for the affected families, dealing with the reality of a sweet child who will never come back home.
Among the mourners were the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Thumisang Thabela, and socialite Madam Boss.
Online Reporter