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Paidamoyo Chipunza in Mvurwi
THE remains of 11 people who were burnt beyond recognition when a commuter omnibus collided head-on with another vehicle have been collected for DNA tests to establish their identity. The accident occurred on Monday. Mvurwi Community Health Council Commissioner Bishop Morris Brown Gwedegwe said nine out 11 relatives of the victims have since pitched up for the commencement of DNA tests.

Some families are arguing that they can still identify their relatives without DNA.

“The remains are highly charred to the extent that people may think that they have identified their body. From what is there, we cannot conclusively determine who is who and to add on to that, people may have shifted positions due to panic at the time of the accident, hence the need to have the bodies confirmed through DNA,” said Bishop Gwedegwe.

He said there were also other remains collected in plastic bags that needed to be matched with some skeletons and this required DNA.

Reverend Gwedegwe was responding to concerns by some of the deceased’s relatives, who insisted they could identify their relatives without DNA.

“My young brother is the one who died in the hands of the man (the herder Forgetmore Tigu), who was helping the victims and we were among the first people to arrive at the scene.

“We positively identified him. There is no need for forensic for us. They should just give us our body so that we go and put him to rest,” said Mr Atkins Magoneka.

But Mrs Sheilla Gezi, mother of 18-year-old Everjoy Chokuda, who also died in the accident, said the DNA was necessary.

“Yesterday, we were all rowdy demanding our bodies, but when they took us into the mortuary to identify the bodies, I could not identify my daughter,” said Mrs Gezi.

She said inasmuch as she wanted her daughter to be laid to rest, it was important that she gets the right body.

National University of Science and Technology director for Applied Genetic Testing Centre Mr Zephaniah Dhlamini urged the relatives to be patient.

He said it would take two weeks to conduct DNA tests.

“We are urging the relatives to be patient with us for a maximum of two weeks.

“The process has started from which samples have been collected from the relatives and what is left is to match these with the remains,” he said.

Mr Dhlamini urged relatives of the two remaining bodies to come forward for them to complete the process at once.

The 11 were burnt beyond recognition when the vehicles caught fire on collision.

Fourteen passengers, who were in the commuter omnibus, were rescued by Mr Tigu before it caught fire.

They are admitted at Mvurwi and Parirenyatwa hospitals.

Some who escaped with minor injuries have since been discharged.