TheCable

The bodies of 66 South African victims of the Synagogue building collapse have been handed over to a South African official, to be taken home.

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.”

Efforts to speak with the South African officials proved abortive as none of them was willing to speak.

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.