Bodies of South African victims in Nigeria church collapse flown home

A cargo plane carrying the bodies of 74 South Africans, who were killed when a Nigerian church building collapsed in September, has arrived home.

The plane flew into the Waterkloof air force base in Pretoria on Sunday, and a sorrowful reception ceremony was held by bereaved families and government officials.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa told the mourners that the entire country was mourning with them.

"As a nation and indeed as a people, we share in your grief and in your sorrow. We understand that the loss you have suffered remains unbearable and incalculable," he said.

The government is doing all it can to ensure that the bodies of the South Africans who remain in Nigeria will soon be brought home for burial as soon as they are positively identified, Ramaphosa added.

South Africa has said its 81 nationals were among a total of 116 people killed on Sept. 12, when a guesthouse belonging to the Christian Synagogue Church of All Nations collapsed in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital.

In addition to the South African victims, the country will also receive the remains of three Zimbabweans and one from the Democratic Republic of Congo who travelled to Nigeria using South African passports.

The South African government has attributed the two-month delay in repatriating the bodies to the lack of DNA testing technology in Nigeria, as well as a law prohibiting foreign personnel from lending help in pathology testing.

While an investigation into the cause of the accident was still underway in Nigeria, preliminary results showed that the collapse might have been caused by structural defects of the guesthouse.

But the church pointed to a mysterious plane that was seen hovering over the building minutes before it collapsed, hinting at the possible involvement of Islamic militants in Nigeria. Enditem