45 Tanzanian died in a stampede to see the ex-president’s body

Tanzanian police have said 45 people were killed in a stampede last week during a public viewing of the body of the country’s late president, John Magufuli, before being buried. Magufuli was revered by many in Tanzania for his combative leadership style and campaign against corruption, although opposition leaders criticized him for his skepticism about the COVID-19 pandemic and his repressive policies.

Magufuli was also criticized by some African and international health experts for discouraging the use of masks, vaccines, and other measures to combat the spread of the disease. In an effort to view Magufuli’s body at the Uhuru Stadium in Dar es Salaam, some people climbed a wall that collapsed, causing a stampede that killed people, the city’s chief of police said Monday night, Lazaro Mambosasa.

Magufuli received a hero’s burial in which his coffin was lowered to the ground on Friday by military generals followed by a 21-gun salute in Chato, his hometown in the northwest of the country. Magufuli was one of the most prominent COVID-19 skeptics in Africa. Despite his government announced on March 17 that he had died of heart failure, opposition leaders accuse that he died of complications from COVID-19. Magufuli claimed last year that three days of national prayer had eradicated COVID-19 from Tanzania and discouraged residents from wearing face masks and getting vaccinated.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the former vice president who succeeded Magufuli to become Tanzania’s first female president, appointed Finance Minister Philip Mpango as her vice president on Tuesday. His nomination was unanimously endorsed by parliament.