A mass funeral service will be held next Wednesday for the 21 young people who died in an Eastern Cape tavern on Sunday morning.

The provincial government said that thereafter the families would be helped with transportation of the remains to be interred at burial sites of their choice.

The government on Wednesday thanked those who had promised support in preparation for the funeral.

“Among them is Avbob,  the funeral parlour, which has pledged burial costs support for each family.”

The government said autopsies had been performed on all the deceased and samples sent to a laboratory in the Western Cape for investigation.

“The report will be shared with the affected families as soon as investigations have been concluded.”

The government said police remained on scene and continued to comb the scene for further clues in relation to the incident.

TimesLIVE