20 die in Tanzania church stampede
Dar Es Salaam: Twenty people in Tanzania were trampled to death and at least 16 hurt at an open-air evangelical Christian church service in the north of the country, officials said.
Dar Es Salaam, Feb. 2: T As many as 20 people in Tanzania were trampled to death at an open-air evangelical Christian church service in the north of the country, officials said on Sunday.
Kippi Warioba, district Commissioner in the northern town of Moshi, said he feared the number of dead could still rise from the accident which took place on Saturday.
“So far, 20 people have died, but the death toll could increase as there were also wounded,” Warioba said. At least 16 others were injured in the crush, he said.
The tragedy happened when a crowd of worshippers was attending a prayer ceremony on
Saturday led by the popular preacher, Boniface Mwamposa, who heads the Arise and Shine Ministry Tanzania.
The stampede occurred when Mwamposa, who calls himself the “Apostle”, poured what he said was holy oil on the ground and the crowd surged toward to touch it in the hope of being cured of sickness, witnesses said.
“The Apostle Boniface Mwamposa poured sacred anointing oil on the ground,” one witness, Jennifer Temu, said.
“Dozens of people immediately fell being jostled and trampled, and some died. We have counted 20 people killed - but there are also wounded.”
Mwamposa, the preacher, fled the scene after the stampede, and police appealed in a broadcast on national television for him to hand himself in.
The preacher was arrested in the port city of Dar es Salaam later on Sunday.