Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. The physical identification of the 43 victims, including Zimbabweans and Malawians, who died in a bus accident last Sunday near Makhado town, in Limpopo Province, South Africa, is scheduled to begin on Monday.
Chengetai Murahwa, a senior official at the Zimbabwe Consulate in Johannesburg, confirmed the development on Friday.
By the end of yesterday, only three bodies had yet to be identified by their next of kin. At the same time, Zimbabwean officials continued verifying the number of victims still admitted in medical facilities.
Post-mortems are being conducted at Tshilidzini Hospital before the bodies are transferred to the Siloam Hospital Mortuary. From there, they will be collected by Doves for repatriation to Zimbabwe for burial.
The identification process is being carried out by Zimbabwean and Malawian officials in close collaboration with South African authorities and the families of the deceased. Said Murahwa:
“A total of 34 post-mortems have been carried out as of midday on Friday (yesterday) and we expect the remainder to be completed by the weekend.
“So, we expect the relatives to start the physical identification at the mortuary on Monday.
“The Government has made arrangements to transport and accommodate all the relatives who will be coming to help with that process.”
He said consulate staff are still confirming the exact number of people still hospitalised and those who have been discharged from the 40 people sent to various medical facilities.
Murahwa added that the initial identification process involves the use of photography and fingerprint verification.
Oliver Govha, the operating supervisor for DNC Coaches, said the company is providing support to the government and offering compassionate assistance to the bereaved families.
He added that the company also plans to visit grieving families both before and after the burials to provide any necessary support. Said Govha:
“In addition to what our Government is doing, guided by them, we are helping with the necessary consumables for those hospitalised and those family members travelling from within South Africa to Limpopo province to complete the identification and repatriation processes.”
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