At least 20 people died and over a dozen injured in a stampede during a church service at a stadium as the victims were rushing to get anointed with blessed oil.
Thousands of people had packed the stadium in northern Tanzania, on Saturday evening in Moshi town near the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and crushed each other as they rushed to be blessed with “prosperity and healing oil”.
“Twenty people died and 16 others were injured in the incident,” Moshi district commissioner Kippi Warioba told Reuters.
Five of those killed were children, he said.
Pastor Boniface Mwamposa, a.k.a bulldozer, has been drawing huge crowds by promising prosperity and cure for disease to worshippers who walk on what he describes as “blessed oil” during his church services.
Authorities fear the death toll could rise due to the size of the crowd and dark conditions when the stampede occurred.
“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,” Warioba said.
Tanzania has seen a rise 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.
The pastor was arrested later for his role in the incident as he sought to leave the country, officials said.
He was arrested on Sunday in Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, as he attempted to flee the country, home affairs minister George Simbachawene said on Sunday.
“Mwamposa tried to flee after this incident, but we arrested him in Dar es Salaam … he will be held accountable for causing this tragedy,” the minister said.