Government says it will soon start training local dogs to
undertake specialised searches that include finding human bodies.
This comes after the State was forced to seek help from
South African dogs to assist in locating victims of Cyclone Idai, buried under
debris.
Responding to questions from the media on cadaver dogs that
had come from South Africa to help the police in the search of victims of
Cyclone Idai in Chipinge and Chimanimani districts, Information minister Monica
Mutsvangwa said it was time government trained its own sniffer dogs to find
human cadavers.
“These are trained dogs, not just dogs, and I think this is
something that, as a country going forward, we must train our local dogs to do
that kind of job. We have dogs in our country trained to sniff for marijuana or
other things, but not really these kind of things,” she said
Last month, Cyclone Idai ravaged the eastern part of
Zimbabwe, leaving more than 344 people dead and 16 000 families in dire need of
shelter and food.
Schools were destroyed and infrastructure damaged by the
heavy rains that were accompanied by heavy winds.
Huge rocks tumbled down in nearby mountains and several
homes, together with people, were buried beneath the heavy boulders, forcing
the government to approach their South African counterparts for cadaver dogs to
locate victims.
During the two weeks stay of the cadaver dogs in Zimbabwe,
at least 35 sites suspected to harbour corpses were spotted and now authorities
are removing the debris at the sites to recover the bodies.
An entire growth point and nearby urban settlement with
more than 80 houses at Dzingire Growth Point, popularly known as Kopa in
Chipinge, were swept away by the tropical cyclone, together with other houses
where agricultural extension workers stayed.
Government has also announced that it will be erecting a
monument in Chimanimani to remember those who perished due to the heavy rains. Newsday
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