TANZANIA: 5 people die at John Magufuli funeral

Five people died in a suspected stampede during a public viewing of the body of former Tanzanian President John Magufuli over the weekend.

According to Heri Mtua the family spokesman of one of the five people who died in the stampede said,  Suzan Mtua (30) died with four school-age children when there was a stampede of people wanting to view the body on Sunday. The children ranged in age from 7 to 12 years old.

Mtua revealed that the children had demanded they also attend the funeral of President Magufuli. However, later that day they received a call late evening by an unknown person using Suzan’s phone.

He said a caller told him that the owner of the phone had been taken to a hospital.  Her body was unfortunately eventually found at the morgue.

Despite the covid-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of Tanzanians came out to view Magufuli’s body at Uhuru Stadium in the country’s largest city, Dar es Salaam, over the weekend.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people who attended the funeral are reported to have fainted in the crush. Authorities are yet to issue a statement about the number of people killed in the national event.

new zimbabwe