Tanzanian officials on Thursday put the final death toll in the country's worst ever train disaster at 281 as rescue efforts at the crash site came to an end at midnight.
Dodoma Regional Administrative Secretary Dainess Senyagwa said the last 28 bodies were collected from the wreckage near the village of Msagali overnight.
Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye told parliament on Thursday that 73 unidentified bodies still laid out at Dodoma's sports stadium will be buried later in the day at Maili Mbili outside Dodoma town.
Some 208 bodies were identified by relatives at taken away for burial, he added.
The passenger train, which was carrying around 1,000 passengers, was climbing a steep hill into the administrative capital Dodoma on Monday when its engine failed, sending all carriages rolling back down the track at high speed into a goods train.
(China Daily June 28, 2002)
