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Burial of 13 Chisumbanje accident victims on Friday

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THE remains of the 13 Chipinge villagers who perished in a fuel tanker inferno are being buried on Friday after the bodies were positively identified

THE remains of the 13 Chipinge villagers who perished in a fuel tanker inferno are being buried on Friday after the bodies were positively identified through DNA profiling earlier this week.

REPORT BY OBEY MANAYITI

The 13 were part of the 17 people who were burnt beyond recognition when their hired truck collided with an ethanol-laden tanker in Manzvire village near Checheche business centre on October 31 this year. A total of 24 people died in the crash which involved a tanker from Chisumbanje.

Irikidzai Mutetwa, spokesperson of the Muyambo-Chindengerwa family, said the majority of the bodies would be buried in Mariya village in Chipinge.

The accident happened as the family was escorting the body of a close family member for burial in the same village.

“We met with the doctors who were doing the DNA processes who explained to us how the process of identifying our relatives was carried out,” Mutetwa said.

“There were also counsellors who were basically trying to make the family accept the disaster. They encouraged us to be positive and they also told us that there was not going to be body viewing because of the state of the bodies. The bodies to be buried in Chipinge will be taken to Chipinge District Hospital first because that is where the coffins are.”

She said Veronica Dhliwayo would be buried in Murehwa, Oncemore Dhliwayo in Zamuchiya and Lilian Time in Chegutu. The majority, who are members of the Muyambo family, will be buried in Mariya village.

Initially, government had proposed mass burial of the remains, but the family protested insisting on positive identification of each of the bodies so that they could be buried separately.