Petrol shortage fuels desperate measures
Two mortuary workers have been arrested in Zimbabwe after they allegedly set up a scam which allowed people to use corpses in order to obtain scarce fuel.
Fuel is now extremely scarce in Zimbabwe, with people spending hours or sometimes even days in queues, but those ferrying bodies are allowed to refill their cars without waiting.
The Herald said the two, Knocks Zvakwidza and another man identified as Chikwanha, both working at Chitungwiza Hospital just outside the capital Harare, were arrested on Thursday on charges of violating a dead body.
They allegedly allowed a third suspect, also in police custody, to take the body of a one-month-old baby to a fuel station to fill up his car
The suspect aroused the suspicion of security guards when he returned the coffin to the hospital.
“The man was quizzed and he revealed he was working in cahoots with the mortician and his assistant,” police spokeswoman Cecilia Churu told the Herald.
The two also allegedly used burial orders to obtain fuel, which they sold on the black market.
Zimbabwe’s oil woes have worsened in recent weeks, with virtually no fuel available at Harare filling stations.