Emotions high as Arusha bids farewell to crash victims

Arusha. Emotions went high yesterday as Arusha residents paid last respects to eleven victims of Saturday’s horrific crash that claimed 25 lives.

Some mourners at Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium could not control themselves as the coffins containing the bodies were brought into the arena for the last respects.

Others, notably women, wailed uncontrollably as they filed for last viewing before the caskets, some bearing the photos of the victims, were taken away for burial.

The bodies brought to the stadium included those of two children from the same family who perished: Cuthbert Johnson (seven years old) and Gerson Johnson, aged 18.

Others belonged to a 44-year-old mother, Neema Loserian, and her two-year-old daughter, Dorcas Loserian. Both of them died in the accident.

Among the bodies also brought for last viewing was the one belonging to the driver of the ill-fated New Vision School bus, the late Obed Zakayo.

The school bus with registration No. T673 DEW was one of the four vehicles involved in the crash, which happened around 5pm on Saturday at the Ngaramtoni road stretch.

The school vehicle, a Toyota Coaster, was carrying scores of volunteers from outside the country supporting the academic centre based in Arusha.

According to the police, the school bus, a commuter minibus and a saloon car that were heading to the city centre were rammed by a Kenyan-registered semi-trailer.

The deceased included seven foreign nationals. Some of their bodies had been collected or were awaiting collection for transportation to their respective countries.

The bodies of the foreign nationals were not brought to the stadium for the last time. Their respective embassies were coordinating their repatriation, regional officials said.

Also collected for burial prior to yesterday’s mass at the stadium were the bodies of other locals. They were transported to various destinations within the country.

The final sendoff of the victims was led by the minister for Constitution and Legal Affairs, Pindi Chana, and the Arusha Regional Commissioner (RC), John Mongela. The RC told the mourners that President Samia Suluhu Hassan had directed that the government meet the cost of transportation of the bodies of the victims.

The government would also pay Sh1 million to the families of each of the deceased as a consolation for losing a beloved one.

Also in attendance were the Commandant of the Traffic Police, Ramadhan Ng’azi and other senior government officials in the region, as well as members of the clergy.

Yesterday’s funeral was reminiscent of another one in the same arena on May 8, 2017, when Arusha residents paid last respects to over 35 victims of the Lucky Vincent school bus crash, which shocked the nation.

It also came only about ten days after the funeral of the former prime minister and long-serving Monduli MP, Edward Lowassa, which pulled in thousands of mourners from within the region and beyond.