By Staff Reporter
HARARE — Millionaire businessman Wicknell Chivayo and his wife, Lucy, will be buried without their heads after forensic examinations failed to recover the remains following last Wednesday’s helicopter crash that killed the couple and three others.
Chivayo’s uncle and family spokesman, Herbert Chivayo, said on Sunday that the couple would be buried side by side at Glen Forest Cemetery in Harare on Thursday.
He said the bodies of the five victims, including two pilots and a security officer, were severely burnt when the helicopter crashed in misty conditions at Kudenga Farm in Marondera.
The bodies were exposed to jet fuel, which caught fire after the crash.
“The bodies were burnt until the fire died on its own, so you can imagine what the status is like.
“They were beyond recognition,” Herbert said.
Herbert said forensic officials initially suspected that some of the recovered remains could have been the victims’ heads, but subsequent examinations established that they were not.
“I have seen on social media people saying that the heads were found, but that’s not true.
“No head was found. There are some remains which forensic officials suspected to be head remains, but they found out that they were not. That’s the situation,” he said.
Chivayo, who has faced corruption allegations linked to government contracts awarded to his companies, was travelling from his rural home in Chivhu and was scheduled to stop in Marondera when the helicopter crashed.
A final message transmitted by the pilot indicated that the crew was struggling to exit clouds before communication was lost.
Funerals for the two pilots were held on Sunday.
Co-pilot Courage Mutavirwa was buried in Chiredzi, while Captain Calvin Soda, a former Air Force of Zimbabwe pilot, was buried in Marondera.
Security officer Senelisiwe Magagula is due to be buried in Lupane on Monday.
