Moz buries xenophobia victims
2008-06-02 16:41
Maputo - Mozambique on Monday began burying victims of xenophobic attacks in South Africa, officials said.
At least 30 Mozambicans were killed in the attacks and tens of thousands were driven back to the southern African country.
At least 62 people have died over the past three weeks in attacks on African immigrants in South African townships, with Zimbabweans and Mozambicans the most affected.
Casimiro Abreu, deputy director of the Mozambique National Institute of Disaster Management, told Reuters three bodies had arrived in the capital Maputo and 27 others were awaiting clearance.
"We are now taking two of them to the southern province of Inhambane and one will be buried in Maputo," he said.
Abreu said over 36 000 Mozambicans had now returned home to escape the violence.
Mozambique's government has estimated that about two million of its citizens live and work on South African farms and mines.