South African Police Dogs Search for Cyclone Victims in Zimbabwe

Boulders and mud left by Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe are making it difficult for relatives to search for their relatives in Chimanimani district, March 28, 2019.

Wonder Tom in Chimanimani district lost his 82-year-old grandmother when Cyclone Idai hit March 16. He hopes the sniffer dogs from South African police will help those who lost their relatives find their remains so they can give her a proper burial.

Ian Hoy, a volunteer, who is with the South African police sniffer dog team, said on March 28, 2019, they will be in Chimanimani for five days to search an area with a radius of about 60 to 80 kilometers looking for people who went missing in Cyclone Idai.

A South African police officer guides his sniffer dog in Ngangu, one of the areas hardest hit by Cyclone Idai in Chimanimani district, Zimbabwe, March 28, 2019.

Ndofandaedza Jaboon, an assistant commissioner of Zimbabwe's police who is leading the recovery in Chimanimani, said on March 28, 2019, that authorities will excavate to try retrieve the bodies where a South African police sniffer dog team has indicated.

Zimbabwe army officials exhume a body March 26, 2019, in Chimanimani district ahead of the arrival of South African police sniffer dogs.