Bodies of Nigerian church collapse victims examined by families

Most of the KwaZulu-Natal families whose relatives died in the Lagos church building disaster on Thursday said they were certain they had buried the correct bodies as they had examined them before the burials. “Even though government officials had told us not to open the bags in which the bodies were put in, we did not heed the advice – we opened the bag and examined the remains. We definitely buried the right person,” Lindo Wittle, whose cousin, Nokuphila Precious Maphumulo was among the 85 South Africans who died in the Nigerian church tragedy, said.

Five KZN residents: Maphumulo from Ezimbokodweni, Durban couple Dicky and Dennis Ngcobo, Sabelo Myeni from Jozini and Nomusa Nyawo from Ngwavuma, were among the 85 South Africans who died in the Lagos tragedy.

Their bodies were buried in the province following their repatriation from Nigeria in November last year.

At the time of the bodies’ arrival in the country, South African government officials had advised relatives not to inspect the bodies – which were in black bags, as there were in an advanced state of decomposition.

“We heard about the incidents. However, we are not concerned at all because we opened the bag and checked her – we are satisfied as a family that we buried the right body,” Thulani Zungu, the spokesperson for Nyawo’s family said.

Myeni’s brother, Joseph Khumalo, said while he did not inspect the remains himself, the family elders did.

“Ordinarily, I would have viewed the body but was told not to. However, other members of the family did check and they told us that it was her,” he said.

Friday 20 February 2015

http://citizen.co.za/330193/bodies-nigerian-victims-examined-families/