Crash: Victims’ families reject ‘joint burial’

Families of victims of last Sunday’s Dana flight 992 crash have rejected a Lagos State proposal to give the victims a joint burial.

The state had reportedly said that if the families agreed to a joint burial in a dedicated cemetery, the families would be allowed to exhume the corpses if they wished to identify them further.

 One of the victims’ relative, John Akande, told our correspondent that the families rejected the option of a joint burial because of the stress it would bring.

“The process of exhuming the bodies could be tedious, which is why we rejected it. The government committee and our own committee will meet to sort things out so that we can all have the remains of our members on time,” Akande said.

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, who addressed journalists after a four-hour meeting with the families on Sunday, said they (famlies) agreed to be patient, while government identified the victims before their release for burial.

He said, “The families agreed with the process we adopted. They agreed to wait while we identify the bodies.

“We subsequently set up a relationship team (committee) to be made up of people from government and some members of the families. The committee will coordinate information between government and families and manage the release of the bodies.”

The families would meet at the mortuary of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital on Monday (today).

Source