74 South African Victims Of Synagogue Building Collapse Flown Home

74 South African Victims Of Synagogue Building Collapse Flown Home

The South African Government on Saturday said bodies of 74 of its citizens that lost their lives in the Synagogue Church of All Nations building collapse, have been handed over to representatives of the government, to be taken home.

This was comfirmed to journalists in Lagos by a Special Envoy of the South African Government and Minister from the Presidency, Jeff Radebe.

According to him, 74 bodies of the victims will be repatriated to South Africa on Saturday night and would arrive in the country on Sunday morning.

Radebe said two cargo planes that would be used for the operation are already in Nigeria, while efforts are still ongoing to identify the six remaining bodies.

The remains were collected from the Mainland Hospital, Yaba and the
Isolo General Hospital, Isolo on Saturday.

A correspondent of NAN, who was at the Mainland Hospital, Yaba,
reported that the bodies were seen being loaded into three
refrigerated trucks.

Oladapo Obafunwa, a professor and the chief medical examiner in
charge, said that 80 bodies, including victims from Nigeria, Togo and
other neighbouring countries, were identified.

Obafunwa, a professor of forensic pathology at Lagos State
University’s College of Medicine, Ikeja, said 66 of the victims had
been identified as South Africans.

“We have been working from midnight when the South African
officials arrived to identify the bodies,” he said.

“So far, from Yaba mortuary, we identified 40 South Africans and the
bodies have been appropriately labelled and loaded into the
refrigerated trucks.

“My colleague led the other team of the South African officials to the
Isolo mortuary, where they identified and loaded 26 bodies.”

The victims got trapped in a guest house that collapsed at the
headquarters of the Synagogue Church of All Nations on September
12.

A total of 115 people reportedly died and several others sustained
injuries.