Following the incident, police said that they had
only learnt of the stampede the next day. The incident also resulted in
several injuries.
“Preliminary reports indicate that the community assembled
at the show grounds to attend Shepherd Bushiri’s church service at
around 8pm at hall C,” Selepe said at the time.
“According to them, when the rain started, the congregation started to push each other and the stampede occurred,” she added.
A case of defeating the ends of justice was opened relating to the
removal of the bodies from the church before the police were notified.
Selepe told TimesLIVE that the investigation was at an advanced stage.
Meanwhile, protests flared outside Bushiri’s church on Friday and
Saturday, with locals calling for the church headed by the Malawian-born
pastor to be permanently shut down.
Prophet Bushiri details what happened on
night of deadly stampede