Mass funeral in Tanzania

A sports hall was converted into a makeshift morgue

The bodies of 88 victims of Monday's train crash have been buried after a mass ceremony in Dodoma.

Some of the bodies had so much decomposed, prompting the government and relatives to decide to bury them in Dodoma

Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye

They had either not been identified or had decomposed so badly that the authorities and the relatives agreed that they should be laid to rest immediately.

A total of 281 people are now known to have died in Tanzania's worst-ever train crash.

Rescue efforts at the site have come to an end after workers pulled the last bodies from two mangled coaches overnight.

Relatives have identified and taken away 208 bodies for private burial.

Individual plots

Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye presided over the ceremony, along with religious leaders and weeping relatives, reports the French news agency, AFP.

"Some of the bodies had so much decomposed, prompting the government and relatives to decide to bury them in Dodoma," he said.

They were buried in individual plots outside Dodoma.

President Benjamin Mkapa has promised an official inquiry to determine what caused the crash.

Visiting the scene, the president said the disaster could not have been averted, but some passengers have accused the driver of negligence.

Runaway train

The train, which was carrying more than 1,000 passengers, is believed to have lost power and rolled backwards down a slope, colliding with a goods train before derailing.

The last bodies were recovered overnight

With the local morgue able to handle only 10 bodies at a time, a stadium was used to display the bodies of the victims so that relatives could identify them and take them away for burial.

A technical problem is believed to have caused the accident.

Some sources say there was a power or engine failure, others speak of faulty brakes.