Tanzania: 45 People Died in Stampede During Late President’s Memorial Service

At least 45 people were killed in a stampede that broke out last week in Dar es Salaam during a public viewing of Tanzania’s late president, John Magufuli, local police confirmed on Monday.

The stampede took place on March 21 at Dar es Salaam’s Uhuru Stadium, where Tanzanian government officials staged a public viewing for late President Magufuli following his death from a “heart illness” on March 17.

“[A] stampede occurred when some Dar es Salaam residents attempted to enter the stadium via unofficial entrance points as the crowd got larger,” the Citizen, a Tanzanian newspaper, reported on March 30.

“They went to the stadium in order to express their love for their departed leader but because the number of people was huge, some became impatient and opted to using unofficial entry points and that was how the problem occurred,” Dar es Salaam Police Commander Lazaro Mambosasa told the Citizen‘s sister paper, the Mwananchi, on March 29.

At least 37 more people were wounded in the stampede, according to Mambosasa, who added that all of those injured “were progressing well and had been discharged from various hospitals” as of Monday.

While the police chief could not name the stampede’s victims, the Citizen revealed the identities of several people killed during the event on Tuesday. Five members of a single Dar es Salaam family died during the stadium tragedy, according to the newspaper.

“On Thursday, March 25, hundreds of mourners turned up at the home of Mr. David Mtuwa in Dar es Salaam to pay their last respects to five family members who lost their lives during the stampede at Uhuru Stadium on Sunday, March 21,” according to the Citizen. “Christian (11), Michelle (8), Nathan (6), Natalia (5), Suzan Ndana Mtuwa (30s) and a housemaid Anita Mfik- wa (27) died as they went to pay their last respects to the body of former President John Magufuli.”

The BBC first reported on the family’s deaths on March 22, identifying the victims as “Dennis Mtuwa’s wife, two of his children, a nephew, and a niece.”

“These last 24 hours have been really difficult for me. I feel relieved when I’m surrounded by people, but when I’m alone the amount of grief becomes overwhelming,” Mr. Mtuwa told the BBC at the time.

The Citizen on March 30 identified an additional stampede victim as Rose John. The woman’s body was recently transported from Dar es Salaam to northwestern Tanzania’s Kagera region for burial, according to the newspaper.

Tens of thousands of people packed into Uhuru Stadium on March 20 and 21 for a chance to pay their respects to late President Magufuli, who died from a “heart illness” according to the Tanzanian authorities. Prior to the government’s announcement of Magufuli’s death, the leader had been uncharacteristically absent from public for nearly three weeks. Tanzanian government officials initially refused to comment on Magufuli’s disappearance, sparking speculation that the leader had fallen ill or contracted the Chinese coronavirus.