DAR ES SALAAM — At least 45 mourners died in a stampede that occurred at a stadium in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam during mourning of the late President John Magufuli, local newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The stampede that happened on March 21 also injured 37 people after a huge number of mourners forced their way into the Uhuru Stadium to pay last respects to their fallen leader and view the body, the Citizen newspaper said. These people were not criminals.
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 use unofficial entry points and that was how the problem occurred, Lazaro Mambosasa, Dar es Salaam Special Police Zone Commander, was quoted by the paper as saying.
All the 37 people who were injured in the stampede were recovering well, and they had been discharged from various hospitals, the paper said. Magufuli, 61, died in office from a heart condition on March 17 in Dar es Salaam.