Worshippers killed in stampede
AT LEAST 20 people were killed and more than a dozen hurt in a stampede as worshippers rushed to be anointed during a church service in northern Tanzania, officials have said.
Thousands of people crammed into a sports stadium for the service on Saturday evening in the town of Moshi near Mount Kilimanjaro. Many were crushed after the pastor called them to be anointed with “blessed oil”.
The pastor was arrested for his role in the incident as he sought to leave the country, officials said.
Moshi district commissioner Kippi Warioba said: “Twenty people died and 16 others were injured in the incident.”
He said five of the dead were children.
“The stampede occurred when the worshippers were rushing to get anointed with blessed oil.”
Pastor Boniface Mwamposa had been drawing huge crowds by promising prosperity and cures for diseases to worshippers who step in what he calls “blessed oil” during his services.
He was arrested yesterday in Dar es Salaam as he tried to flee the country, home affairs minister George Simbachawene said.
“Mwamposa tried to flee after this incident, but we arrested him in Dar es
Salaam ... he will be held accountable for causing this tragedy,” he said.
Simbachawene said the stampede occured after the pastor instructed worshippers, who numbered about 10 000, to rush to one side of the stadium at the same time to get anointed.
Authorities fear the death toll could increase because of the size of the crowd and poor lighting when the stampede occurred.
Warioba said: “The incident took place at night and there were many people, so there is a possibility that more casualties could emerge. We are still assessing the situation.”
In Tanzania there has been an increase in the number of “prosperity gospel” pastors in recent years, who promise to lift people out of poverty and perform what they call miracle cures.
Thousands of people in the nation of 55 million flock to Pentecostal churches. The churches’ main source of income is “tithe”, the 10% or so of income worshippers are asked to contribute.