RESCUE efforts continued yesterday in the Cyclone Idai-ravaged Chimanimani and Chipinge districts amid reports that some people who died in the disaster could have been buried in mass graves, although government officials denied the reports.<\/p>\n
Affected villagers told NewsDay on Monday that they were aware of individuals and relatives that were still missing and who they suspect could have been buried in mass graves.<\/p>\n
Barbara Chikumbanwe, of Chimanimani, said she was aware of relatives and strangers who were buried in mass graves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there are more than 100 people who are missing. People are being buried in mass graves. Strangers are being buried together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Another villager, Munyaradzi Sithole, from Nyanyadzi in Chimanimani, said the situation was worse than what people were talking about.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have people who are being buried in twos or threes,\u201d she said<\/p>\n
MDC leader Nelson Chamisa, who toured the affected areas on Monday, said the figure of Cyclone Idai casualties being given by government was lower than actual numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the figures are far higher than the reports we are getting from the (government) and because of the way we have responded to the crisis, I don\u2019t think we have evidence and information gathering capacity to be able to figure out the extent of the causalities and figure out the real numbers,\u201d he said<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a wake up call on us as authorities and leadership that in future, we must have disaster preparedness mechanisms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local Government minister July Moyo told journalists that government was not aware of mass graves.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no we don\u2019t have that information. Graves have been dug and people are being buried individually,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut some of the victims were not taken to their homes, but they have been buried in a decent manner. Youths have been digging graves, not one grave.
\nIf that has happened we don\u2019t have that information.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Emmerson Mnangagwa was in Mutare in the afternoon and visited affected areas after attending a Cabinet meeting in the morning.<\/p>\n
Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga arrived in Mutare yesterday morning ahead of Mnangagwa.<\/p>\n
Addressing journalists at Mutare government complex yesterday, Agriculture minister and Defence acting minister Perrance Shiri commended Zimbabweans for chipping in with donations to assist the cyclone survivors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RESCUE efforts continued yesterday in the Cyclone Idai-ravaged Chimanimani and Chipinge districts amid reports that some people who died in the disaster could have been buried in mass graves, although government officials denied the reports. Affected villagers told NewsDay on Monday that they were aware of individuals and relatives that were still missing and who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":5964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[487,55,31,380,328],"class_list":{"0":"post-6068","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-community","9":"tag-cyclone","10":"tag-government","11":"tag-mnangagwa","12":"tag-moyo","13":"tag-victims"},"yoast_head":"\n