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国际英语新闻:S. Africa fails to bring home remains of all Nigerian disaster victims

更新时间:2024-03-29 18:10:34

  PRETORIA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The families of 11 South African victims in the Nigerian church disaster will have to wait even longer for the remains of their loved ones to be returned home, it was announced on Sunday.

  The Minister of Defence Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula made the announcement after the remains of 74 South Africans were repatriated.

  The South African Defence Force (SADF) on Saturday sent two planes to collect the remains of the victims.

  Family members gathered at the WaterKloof Air Base near Pretoria to wait for the return of the remains of their loves.

  Mapisa-Nqakula said people should remember that the government has worked very hard to ensure that the bodies have been repatriated.

  More than 80 South Africans were among 116 people killed when a guest house belonging to the Christian Synagogue Church of All Nations collapsed in Lagos on September 12.

  South Africa had been seeking to repatriate the remains of all the victims by the weekend.

  But the Nigerian side said they couldn't have all the bodies identified by then.

  The long repatriation process had made family members desperate, while some families even say they have lost hope in the government.

  Yes, all of us are very sad that it has taken us two months to bring the remains of our people home, our people should always remember that government has worked very hard, Mapisa-Nqakula said.

  The ceremony offers the nation an opportunity to accept that South Africans perished outside the borders of the country, she added.

  Meanwhile, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe, who went to Nigeria to facilitate the repatriation, said the process has not ended.

  The laboratory in Stellenbosch near Cape Town is still processing the DNA samples, Radebe said.

  As soon as we get confirmation we will be able to inform the families of the 11 remaining South Africans, the minister said.

  Nigeria last month appointed a laboratory in Stellenbosch to conduct DNA tests to identify the bodies.

  The Nigerians chose a South African laboratory to do the verification not because Nigeria does not have the capacity but to make sure families are within reach for DNA tests.