Family of 5 die in stampede during Magufuli viewing

 

A woman and her four children died in a stampede during the public viewing of the body of former Tanzanian President John Joseph Pombe Magufuli in Dar-es-Salaam on Monday.

The stampede happened when thousands of mourners pushed their way to the jampacked Uhuru Stadium.

Tanzania’s local daily, The Citizen, quoted the victims’ family member, Henry Mutwa, who said, “We went to the hospital and searched all patients’ wards, but we couldn’t find Suzan and the children. Later, the doctors told us to go and look for them in the mortuary where we found the dead bodies of the five.”

Former Tanzania President John Joseph Pombe Magufuli State Funeral in Dodoma, Tanzania,

Source: The Official Account of the Chief Spokesperson of the Government of Tanzania

The body of Suzan Ndana Mutwa, 30, was found alongside her children aged 11, 8, 6 and 5.

“The children had demanded they also attend the funeral of President Magufuli,” Mr. Mutwa said. “Later that day we received a call late evening by an unknown person using Suzan’s phone.” The caller said that the owner of the phone had been taken to a hospital. But her body was eventually found at the morgue, he said.

The children were aged between 7 and 12 years.

Hundreds of peoples who attended the funeral fainted in the crush and authorities said they will issue a statement on Tuesday about the number of people killed in the national event.