Five people who are believed to be Tanzanians died in a car crash in the US state of Arizona last Wednesday.
The accident left 12 others who were travelling in the same van seriously injured, five of whom critical.
However, the identity of the victims and their real nationality could not be immediately established as a separate report by the AFP said they were Burundians who had been living in Tanzania as refugees.
The report said they had recently moved to the US after being relocated from the Tanzanian refugee camps.
Reports in the US quoting a source at the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) said the five were killed on the spot when a large passenger van rolled over on Interstate 10 east of Tucson. A total of 17 people were apparently riding in the vehicle.
The injured were airlifted in 11 different helicopters to local area trauma centres within Tucson and Phoenix Hospitals, according to the reports.
The identities of the driver, passengers and owner of the van are being withheld pending next of kin notification, DPS said.
Initial reports in the state said the victims are believed to be tourists from Tanzania.
The van was travelling eastbound when it lost control and rolled over in the Texas Canyon area, DPS officers said. The cause of the collision is under investigation.
The AFP however said the Burundians were out on a trip to search for jobs at a nearby horticultural farm when the van lost control and rolled.
Efforts in Dar es Salaam to confirm the news with the Government were futile as no spokesperson from either the ministry of foreign affairs or the police were available to verify the information about the victims'nationalities.
