Grief as body of Turkey earthquake victim buried

The body of Florence Babirye, who died after a devastating earthquake in Turkey last month, arrived on Friday after 40 days of waiting.

The 31-year-old Babirye was buried on Saturday at her ancestral home in  Kibanyi Village, Ndagwe Sub-county in Lwengo District.

Mr Leonard Ndugga, the father of the deceased, expressed relief that her daughter’s body had been repatriated for a decent burial.

“But I don’t know what to do next. The deceased was the bread winner of my family because I can no longer work since I am of advanced age. I cannot even do farming, which I used to do, because I am now sick,” Mr Ndugga said.

Babirye was also paying school fees for two of her sister’s sons - one who completed Primary Seven - and another supposed to join Senior Five.

But both are staring at a bleak future due to lack of school fees.

 Bukoto Mid West legislator Isaac Ssejjoba said there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the repatriation of Babirye’s body but they managed to bring it despite the huge costs involved.

 “At first we thought it was Shs10m, but we have spent more than Shs17m to bring back the body since it was first buried and later exhumed, which was expensive yet the family didn’t have the money,” Mr Ssejjoba said.

Mr Abdul Kabugo, a councillor representing Ndagwe Sub-county in the district, asked the government to create more jobs in the country so that Ugandans don’t seek jobs overseas.

“It becomes expensive when a Ugandan dies abroad and bringing back their bodies has proved difficult,” Mr Kabugo said.

On February 6, the earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, leaving more than 40,000 people dead. Babirye is the only Ugandan known to have died in the earthquake.

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