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A ceremony was held on Wednesday at a mortuary in Petah Tikva, Israel, to commemorate the life of Clemence Mtenga, a Tanzanian student who was taken hostage in the Hamas attack on Israel.

The ceremony was attended by representatives from the Tanzania foreign embassy, from Israel foreign ministry, and fellow students on the academic programme that Clemence was completing.

A fellow student, Ezekiel Kitiku, who had been living with Mr Mtenga on Kibbutz Nir Oz, told the BBC it has been an incredibly painful time.

“We spent so much time together, we cooked together and we always spent our evenings together talking about our day. For him to leave suddenly is very painful.

“But I am a Christian and I believe I will meet him again one day.”

Mr Kitiku is now living in Kiryat Malachi and continuing the agriculture internship.

The Tanzanian foreign ministry said that they are liaising with the Israel government to send Mr Mtenga's body home.