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Tanzania Church stampede kills 20, injures over 40
[AA.TR] At least 20 people died in a stampede as scores of worshippers who gathered at a religious festival in Tanzania’s northern Kilimanjaro region crushed each other as they engage in a frenzied jostling to be anointed with "blessed" oil by a self-proclaimed prophet around midnight.Thousands of people gathered in an overnight religious festival organized by a Pentecostal church in Moshi town nestled on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. The worshippers, including women and kiddies who were jostling to step on blessed oil crushed each other, officials said Sunday. Among those who died, 16 are women, one man and three children, officials said. Kippi Warioba, a local district commissioner for Kilimanjaro, told Anadolu Agency that the incident happened around dawn as worshippers pushed each other to be blessed by Boniface Mwamposa, a popular evangelical Christian pastor. According to Warioba, 40 others who sustained bodily injuries have been admitted at a nearby Mawenzi referral hospital for treatment. Police have launched a manhunt against Pastor Mwamposa, a key suspect, who reportedly fled the venue at Majengo grounds in Moshi following the incident. Posted by: Fred 2020-02-03 |
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