Thousands of people gathered in a Ugandan village on Saturday for the funeral of a Purley doctor and his family following their death in a horror car crash.

Dr Henry Obonyo, 77, and his wife Kevina, 73, of Purley Downs Road, were killed along with daughters Eliza, 46, and Marjorie, 39, when their minibus spun off the road during a trip to their native country.

Jan 16: Tributes paid to Purley doctor and family members after they were killed in horror minibus crash in Uganda

Jan 13: Doctor and family members killed in minivan crash while visiting relatives in Uganda

The couple's two other daughters and four grandchildren were injured but survived the January 2 crash, caused when a tyre blew out as they travelled on the the Kampala-Gulu highway.

Dr Obonyo, a urologist, was a prominent figure in Uganda credited an influential role in the resistance against brutal dictator Idi Amin during the 1970s while in exile in Tanzania .

Following Amin's fall in 1979, Dr Obonyo served in two Ugandan governments, as industry and later health minister, before moving to Purley with his family in 1986 following a military coup.

Speaking from the family village of Madi-Opei yesterday, his son Norbert, 50, who works for the probation service in Croydon, said his father had been a "lamp" for the Ugandan community in London.

He said: "He gave the community hope, because most of us had come to the UK as refugees. He was a very humble person, calm. Despite the fact he was a medical practitioner, speaking to him you would have thought he was a political historian, a military historian.

"[During the 1970s], he was playing a 'mini-UN' role, looking after refugees who had escaped Uganda. He provided political leadership. He was a very pious Christian, very religious."

Norbert estimated that about 6,000 people attended the funeral of his parents and sisters in Madi-Opei on Saturday, including several Ugandan MPs.

A message of condolence from the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, was also read out at the service.

Of his mother Kevina, who worked as a nurse and midwife, Norbert said: "With her, the door was always open for everybody, whether she knew you or not.

"Eliza and Marjorie had very unique qualities. Eliza was very active in the community; Marjorie was very kind and always cared for everybody - you never had to ask her for anything."

Your Local Guardian:

Marjorie Obonyo

A neighbour of the family in Purley Downs Road last week described Mrs Obonyo as "very full of life".

At the time of the crash the family were travelling to Madi-Opei, which is in the northern Lamwo district.

In what appears to be a tragic coincidence, their minibus left the road just metres outside the church of a friend of Eliza Obonyo, Father Wilfred Obina, who officiated Saturday's ceremony.

Father Obina knew Eliza, who lived in Battersea and worked as a payroll officer for Wandsworth Council, from their time volunteering together at St Boniface's Church in Tooting.

He described her as "somebody who would have helped anybody regardless of colour, culture or tribe. She was a really nice lady, very human and very generous."

Your Local Guardian:

Eliza Obonyo

Father Obina, who visited the house in Purley a number of times on trips to London, also remembered Marjorie as someone "always with a smile, very kind and genuine".

He said the service on Saturday had been "so emotional for me to officiate".

Funeral rituals in Uganda typically take between three and four days, with the last commemorative services expected to be held today.

Norbert said that while his family were "devastated" by the death of his parents and sisters, it would take some time for the reality to fully set in.

He said: "When we get back to London we will feel the gap. Until I got to Uganda and got the hospital, I couldn't believe it had happened."

Got a story? Call the newsdesk on 020 8722 6388 or email daniel.omahony@newsquest.co.uk