GRIEF AS FIVE PEOPLE DIE WHILE VIEWING MAGUFULI’S BODY

A family in Dar es Salaam is distraught after a mother lost her life and that of her four children during a melee that erupted Sunday as residents paid their respects to late President John Magufuli.

This was after thousands of people thronged Uhuru Stadium in Tanzania’s commercial capital,  Dar es Salaam, for the event

Reports indicated that several people collapsed while others died in the chaos that erupted as some mourners defied the advice of security personnel and forced their way into the stadium.

 The five relatives who died were identified as Natalia (five), Nathan (six), Michael (eight), Chris (11), and Suzan Ndana Mtuwa (the 30s).

The housemaid who accompanied the five to the stadium has been missing since Sunday.

“We have not seen her since yesterday despite searching for her throughout Temeke Hospital, so we are not sure whether she died or fled,” a relative said.

Suzan, the housemaid, and the four children left their home in a family vehicle for Uhuru Stadium at 5.45 am to view President Magufuli’s body and pay their last respects.

“They arrived at Uhuru Stadium early in the morning and sent us pictures they took there… At around noon, Suzan’s husband called Suzan but she didn’t pick up the phone,”

Someone later answered the phone and informed him that its owner had fainted. He directed the family to go to the office of the Temeke District Commissioner (DC) to collect Suzan’s belongings.

Henry Mtuwa, a family member, said that at the DC’s office, they were told to go to Temeke Referral Hospital to see Suzan.

“We went to the hospital and searched all patients’ wards but couldn’t find her and the five children. Later, the doctors told us to look for them in the mortuary,” he said.

They found the five bodies there. Funeral arrangements are being made at the family home in Kimara Mwisho.

Source Daily Nation