Zimbabwean plane crash victims identified

The bodies of the six people who perished in a plane in Vumba yesterday morning have been identified.

A Zimbabwean national Mr Banele Sibanda, who was finance director of Cornelder de Mozambique, a sister company for Green Motor Services (GMS) based in Mutare was among the six people that were killed.

The other directors of Cornelder de Mozambique namely Adelino Mequito (managing director), Isaic Noor (administration and finance director), Jorge Ucucho (chief legal council), pilot and co-pilot who were father and son, Rui Perreira and Luis Barroso also perished in the horror crash.

Meanwhile, the repatriation process of the bodies of five Mozambican nationals is underway.

Family members and workmates from GMS and Cornelder de Mozambique came to Mutare Provincial Hospital to identify the bodies.

The pilot and co-pilot are expected to be buried in Maputo while the three others are to be buried in Beira and the body of the late Mr Sibanda has since been taken to Harare.

The general manager of GMS Mr Lawrence Takawira who was waiting to pick up the directors expressed shock and said the GMS family has been robbed of figure heads who were driving the organisation.

The commercial manager for Cornelder de Mozambique Jan de Vries commended the Zimbabwean and Mozambican governments for the support rendered, and saluted the army personnel for searching and airlifting the bodies from the mountainous Zohwe area in border stream.

The wreckage is yet to be removed from the mountain as investigations are still in progress, but according to information from villagers, the pilot could have lost visibility due to the misty conditions prevailing at the time of the crash.