JOHANNESBURG –  A plane carrying the remains of 74 South Africans who died in a building collapse in Nigeria on Sept. 12 has arrived in South Africa.

The plane landed Sunday at Waterkloof air force base near Pretoria, the South African capital, ahead of a ceremony to honor the dead. The government said in a statement that the “gruesome nature” of the accident made it difficult to identify victims and that DNA tests had to be conducted.

South Africa says 81 South Africans were among a total of 116 people who died in the building collapse.

The fallen multistory building served as a shopping mall and guesthouse at the sprawling campus of televangelist T.B. Joshua’s Synagogue, Church of All Nations, on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.