At least 20 people were trampled to death at an open-air evangelical Christian church service in the north of the country last evening.
District Commissioner in the northern town of Moshi, Kippi Warioba said, he feared the number of dead could still rise.
He said, the tragedy happened when a crowd of worshippers was attending a prayer ceremony led by the popular preacher, Boniface Mwamposa, who heads the Arise and Shine Ministry Tanzania.
The stampede occurred when Mwamposa, who calls himself the “Apostle”, poured what he said was holy oil on the ground and the crowd surged toward to touch it in the hope of being cured of sickness. Dozens of people immediately fell being jostled and trampled.