SOME relatives of the 50 passengers killed in the Dete train disaster in which 64 others were seriously injured, about two weeks ago, allege that the government has reneged on its promise to offer them assistance.

Ten families visited by The Daily News in Bulawayo said they had so far buried their relatives with assistance only from the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).

They said they had not received any help from the government, as promised. But John Nkomo, the Minister of Special Affairs in the President's Office, insisted yesterday the government was helping the families.

He said: "If there are any families which are not being assisted, then I don't know about that. All I know is that the government pledged to assist the families of the bereaved and we are assisting them."

The government, which declared the accident a national disaster, initially pledged to help the families of the victims, only to surrender the responsibility to the financially-troubled NRZ to foot funeral expenses.

The NRZ, which is a parastatal, confirmed it provided the families with coffins, transport, maize-meal, two small packets of meat, two cabbages, a small packet of tea leaves, cooking oil and sugar.

"We have heard complaints from bereaved families that they have not received anything from the government," said an NRZ official who asked not to be named. Siphathisiwe Ntini of Mzilikazi, now a widow, said she was living in abject poverty barely a week after her husband, Gift Thekwa, 24, died in the accident.

Thekwa is survived by his wife and two children, including a two- month-old daughter. "I am unemployed and I don't know what I will do with these children. The State did not assist us during the funeral and we have not heard anything from the government," she said.

Maxwell Banda of Sizinda suburb who lost a brother, said it was unfair for the government to declare the accident a national disaster and then fail to help the bereaved families.

He said the family had lost a breadwinner. "It is an insult for the government to declare the accident a national disaster and not help us atall. "Why don't they just shut up and let us suffer without their help, as we have always done?" he said.

Benson Soko of Hwange, who lost his wife Maud, said they had buried her two days after the accident without any assistance from the NRZ and the government.

Alexander Nyoni, from Hwange, said: "We were assisted with a coffin, transport and a bit of food by the NRZ.

"We expected the government to chip in, but now that we have buried our father we are not sure whether the government will help us with anything," he said.

Survivors of the crash, who evacuated the injured and the dead from the site of the crash before the police and fire brigade arrived, yesterday said thenumber of dead could be higher than 50.

Ackson Dube, one of the survivors, said : "I am sure that the number of dead is far more than 50. The police and the fire brigade came well after we had evacuated the injured and the dead.

"I don't know why they are basing their estimates on recovered bodies only. What about those who were burnt beyond recognition?"

The NRZ has not disclosed how many people were aboard the train on the fateful night.

But NRZ workers estimated there could have been more than 1 000 passengers on the ill-fated train.

The government has launched a commission of enquiry to determine the cause of the accident.

By yesterday 16 bodies burnt beyond recognition still lay unclaimed at the Wankie Colliery Hospital mortuary.