Fashola
LAGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola yesterday explained why the government has not released bodies of the victims of last Sunday’s Dana Air plane crash to their families.
The governor, who spoke with reporters at the Government House, Ikeja, said his administration is mindful of the cultural and religious issues involved in the matter, adding that he was being cautious not to release wrong bodies to families.
He said: “We are mindful of the cultural and religious issues involved. But the real problem that is on our hands at present is how to identify the bodies. There is a big risk of releasing the wrong bodies to the wrong families.
“It is unfortunate that this accident has happened and that it happened in our state. And one can imagine the trauma and the grief that relatives of the victims are going through at this moment. We are doing all the best that we can to help them through this period of grief.
“Ordinarily, it is an aviation matter and a matter for the airline operators. But it has brought with it so many complexities.”
Fashola appealed to relatives of the victims to show understanding as to why things cannot be done as quickly as they would have expected. He said: “We have no reason at all to delay the release of the bodies of the victims to their relatives but the problem is identification.
“And not all doctors can conduct the autopsy; it is only the pathologist who can conduct the exercise. We are working round the clock and that if it is possible today, they would commence the release of the bodies to their relatives.
“The process of identification requires serious investigation. But we understand the pain the relatives are going through at this moment.
“And what we intend doing is to relieve them of the pains and that is why we think that it is important to give the pathologists some time to engage in the sorting process which will lead to proper identification of the bodies.”
The governor said there is more damage in giving the bodies to the wrong relatives.
He said the government has engaged the services of other professionals to fast track the process.
Fashola said: “We have called for help where necessary in order to assist the doctors in the exercise. We know that this will further help to speed up the identification process.
“We are also making some consultations that will assist the relatives in burying their loved ones. We are speaking to religious leaders to assist in the burial process. We are also speaking to the undertakers and making resources available for the entire process.
“We are ready to go, but held up by the difficulty of identification. We want to be as practical as possible in the identification process.
“It is only with patience and constant communication that we can find our way through this. And come to what I hope will be a satisfactory state that will help families to bury their dead.”
Written by Adewunmi Akinpelu
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