BODIES of the remaining 13 victims of the Chisumbanje tanker inferno have been positively identified and are now set for burial on Friday, close family members told NewsDay yesterday.
REPORT BY OBEY MANAYITI
The 13 were part of the 17 people that were burnt beyond recognition after a truck they were travelling in collided with a fuel tanker near Checheche business centre in Chipinge, killing 24 people on the spot last month.
The other four bodies were identified last month, leaving the remainder to be identified through DNA profiling.
The DNA process was led by African Institute of Biomedical Science Technology (AiBST).
Claris Madhuku, a close member of the Muyambo-Chindengerwa family which lost 13 relatives in the inferno, said they received the DNA results yesterday morning from Mutare Provincial Hospital.
“We appreciate the service by the State in successfully initiating the DNA tests,” Madhuku said. “We urge the family and friends to be consoled by the fact that the deceased have been positively identified for decent burial. The mourning that has taken us over a month has come to an end. The family continues to expect psycho-social support to enable us to overcome this dark moment. Had it not been for the forensic and DNA process, our relatives could have been mass buried.”
“Burial arrangements are pencilled for Friday 20th December in Rimai village as the bodies will be transported from Mutare this Thursday (tomorrow),” Madhuku said.
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But Chipinge District Administrator Edgar Seenza yesterday said the results would be announced tomorrow at Mutare Provincial Hospital.
“The position that we have from government officials and the police is that the family has been invited to Mutare Provincial Hospital on Thursday (tomorrow) to be given the results. At the moment, no one has been given names,” Seenza said.
