News24 | Zim starts repatriating Makado bus crash victims’ bodies

The repatriation of 36 Zimbabweans who died in the Makado bus crash began after DNA tests identified the victims, with a memorial service held in Beitbridge before their return home.

• A horror crash in Makado earlier this month, claimed more than 40 lives.
• 36 Zimbabwean citizens were among the deceased.
• The country has started the process of repatriating its citizens’ bodies.

The grim process of repatriating the bodies of 36 Zimbabwean citizens who perished in a bus accident in Makado, Limpopo earlier this month, has begun.

A DNC Coaches bus travelling from the Eastern Cape to Zimbabwe and Malawi was involved in a horror crash on the N1 near Louis Trichardt, on 12 October. Despite having a capacity of 62, the bus was loaded with 91 passengers at the time. More than 40 people were killed.

A mass memorial service was held in Beitbridge as customs officials cleared 29 bodies for entry into the country on Friday.

Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Local Government and Public Works revealed that it had allocated up to R3.5 million for the process. This included for physical identification and repatriation.

After numerous DNA tests and next of kin travelling across the border to assist, the identification process wrapped up on Tuesday at Siloam Hospital in Luis Trichardt.

READ | Limpopo bus crash death toll at 42, with 49 injured

“We dispatched a bus with next of kin or relatives from the National Disaster Management Centre, Harare, to the Beitbridge route to South Africa, for identification of the bodies. Next of kin without valid passports were granted temporary passage into South Africa for the sole purpose of identifying the deceased,” the ministry said in a statement.

Of the 36 people that perished, seven who were children, are still yet to be repatriated because specialised DNA testing is required.

Malawi, meanwhile, has only returned some of its injured travellers home, leaving seven in hospital and eight deceased still in South Africa.

The country’s Foreign Affairs ministry, through spokesperson Charles Nkhalamba, said they were yet to “finalise arrangements of essential details” between their department of disaster management and their embassy in Pretoria.

Responding to questions from News24, Nkhalamba said:

“There are processes such as buying coffins and transport logistics that have not been done.“

Media reports in Malawi have put the cost of repatriation for that country at around R220 000.

“We have eight passengers who were injured and have already arrived back home. Then there are seven who were admitted to the hospital; they are still in South Africa,“ Nkhalamba said.