I will not quit my job, says mortuary worker who handled 97 victims of Kariba ferry sinking

A mortuary attendant at Kariba Hospital has said the 11 August Mbuya Nehanda ferry disaster, in which 97 people drowned, is something that will take a long time to erase from his memory.

Kangai Chuma, who is from Mola, said he saw the face of every victim, many of whom were his relatives.

Speaking to Kasambabezi FM, the married father of two said he was used to receiving only one or two bodies of fishermen who had drowned in Lake Kariba.

During the disaster, he started work at 8 am and finished at around 10 pm or 11 pm, as some bodies arrived late and paperwork had to be completed before he could go home.

“I faced a lot of pressure as I had to manage work and check on my missing relatives,” he said.

“The scenes are still vivid in my mind. I saw each of the 97 bodies more than three times.”

Chuma said it was difficult to handle the bodies of classmates, relatives and friends. He wept when he discovered the body of a child belonging to a close friend, and struggled to balance his duties with supporting a bereaved relative who had lost two children and a wife.

He said that handling decomposed bodies and the stench from the mortuary made work a nightmare.

Chuma revealed that he spent much of the time unable to eat normally because of the strong smell, and said the experience will stay with him for a long time.

He said that at one point, he considered switching off his phone and staying at home, but the thought of his loved ones and the scale of the national disaster forced him to soldier on.

“I will not quit my job, which I love so much. I will be at work even beyond 2030,” he said.