Synagogue tragedy: Families can’t get bodies yet

South Africa yesterday told families of the
victims of the collapsed Synagogue Church of
All Nations (SCOAN) building in Lagos that it is
likely to take "a considerable amount of time"
before the bodies of the dead South Africans
are taken home.
Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe said in
Pretoria that the latest report was that only 18
post-mortems had been completed on the
victims of the disaster.
"In terms of the last report, they have only
completed 18 post-mortems (out of 115) so
far. But as soon as the process is completed,
we'll be able to repatriate."
Radebe said government understood the
frustration and anguish of families waiting for
the return of the bodies of their loved ones.
Around 115 people, among them 84 South
Africans, were killed and dozens trapped when
a multi-storey guest house attached to the
Synagogue Church of All Nations collapsed in
Lagos on September 12.
Radebe said that of the 84 South Africans
killed, the number of bodies identified to date
remained 62, the same figure announced last
Wednesday.
He said going by the Nigerian law, the South
African experts who flew to Lagos to assist
could not perform post-mortems on the
victims, but only act as observers.
"A post-mortem has to be performed on all
deceased persons, and death certificates have
to be issued, before the mortal remains can be
repatriated back to South Africa," said Radebe.
"Regrettably, this process is bound to take a
considerable amount of time due to the large
number of people who perished in this
incident."
Families had to prepare themselves for "a
process that might go on a while longer than
we would have wished".
Radebe also warned on the condition of the
remains.
"Due to the scale of the disaster, the passage of
time, and the climatic conditions in Nigeria,
most of the mortal remains are not in a good
state.
"Out of concern for secondary trauma to the
families, as well as public health
considerations, government discourages family
members from viewing the mortal remains."
He said the remains would be brought to South
Africa "on a single flight, properly equipped for
this task".
On arrival, they would be taken to a special
facility where they could be collected by family
members.
But we'll know by the end of the week, when
are we going to be repatriating South Africans."
Radebe said the process of fingerprinting
victims had been completed.
"We have reached a critical milestone in the
identification of the mortal remains. The
capturing of fingerprints on the deceased
persons has, where possible, been completed.

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