Bodies of 66 South Africans killed in Synagogue guesthouse collapse flown home

The bodies of 66 South African victims of the Synagogue collapsed building were on Saturday 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.

At the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, reports that the bodies were seen being loaded into three refrigerated trucks.

Prof. Oladapo Obafunwa, the Chief Medical Examiner in charge, said that 80 bodies, including victims from Nigeria, Togo and other neighbouring countries, were identified.

Obafunwa, who is the professor of forensic pathology, Lagos State University’s College of Medicine, Ikeja, told NAN that 66 of the victims were identified to be South Africans.

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