Zimbabwean businessman Wicknell Chivayo and his wife, Lucy Muteke, will be buried without their heads after forensic examinations failed to identify or recover them following last week’s fatal helicopter crash.
The couple is scheduled to be buried at Glen Forest Cemetery in Harare on Thursday, October 8, according to family spokesperson Herbert Chivayo.
Chivayo and Muteke died on September 30 when the Bell 430 helicopter they were travelling in crashed at Kudenga Farm in Marondera, east of Harare.
The helicopter caught fire after the crash, leaving the victims’ remains severely damaged and requiring forensic examination before the bodies could be released to their families.
Herbert said investigators initially believed some of the remains recovered from the crash site could have been the victims’ heads. However, forensic examinations later established that the suspected remains were not heads.
He said the family had therefore been unable to recover the couple’s heads despite efforts at the crash site and during the identification process.
The family has also ruled out a viewing of the bodies because of the condition of the remains following the crash.
The burial will be held at Glen Forest Cemetery, where family members, friends, business associates and members of the public are expected to gather to pay their final respects.
The couple’s deaths have attracted significant attention in Zimbabwe, with Chivayo being a prominent businessman known for his high-profile public presence and business interests.
Investigations into the helicopter crash are continuing as authorities work to establish what caused the aircraft to crash at the Marondera farm.
