Bus crash victim's body unclaimed six weeks on

ONE of the 21 people who died in a horrific crash involving a Megalink coach along the Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway in April this year is still to be buried after a man who claimed to be her relative vanished after collecting US$700 meant for burial.

The Government and the bus firm provided the money.

The body of the woman has reportedly been lying unclaimed at a Nyaradzo Funeral parlour in Harare.

The man, who presented himself as Allen Mapuranga to police in Masvingo, claimed he wanted to bury his sister Loice Mapuranga from Unit B in Seke, Chitungwiza.

He proceeded to collect US$510 cash from Megalink Bus Company for funeral assistance and US$200 from the Masvingo District Administrator's office.

He then disappeared after collecting US$710 and is still atlarge. The other 20 victims were buried a few days after the accident.

The woman who police were made to believe was Loice Mapuranga has not yet been claimed two and a half months after the crash.

Masvingo police spokesperson Inspector Tineyi Matake yesterday said investigations later revealed that the deceased was not Loice Mapuranga and appealed to members of the public who were missing a female relative to approach their nearest police station.

"We have since discovered that the suspect who is at large stole one Allen Mapuranga's identity card, which he claimed to be his before he managed to convince police who had set up a temporary base at Masvingo General Hospital that one of the deceased woman was her sister. The suspect disappeared soon after collecting the money."

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