Bandits kill 4 Tanzanian traders in Mozambique

Mtwara. Four Tanzanian businessmen have been shot dead by people thought to have been bandits in the neighbouring country of Mozambique.

Mtwara regional police boss Henry Mwaibambe said the incident occurred on the eve of Monday when the victims were changing money at Mtoro Village in Mtopweshi District.

Commander Mwaibambe said that the deceased were dealing in gold and at night when they were at a bureau de change they were attacked.

He named Salum Mohamed, 44, a resident of Temeke, Dar; Yusuph Twalib, 34, (Tanga and Dar) and Hamis Mkapila, 40, (Morogoro) as among the dead.

“These businessmen frequently travelled to Mozambique to do gold business. On the eve of February 8 when they were at a bureau de change, they were attacked by guns and machetes and several people were killed,” Mwaibambe said.

One of the dead persons, Mariam Ramadhani, 30, who was a resident of Lushoto, Tanga Region, died by falling on the ground and lacking treatment after realising that her colleagues had been hit and she decided to flee for her life.

“The deceased died in different places. One died at the scene, some in hospital, and Mariam collapsed and died from shock, after noting that her colleagues had been attacked. She had collapsed and would have been saved if she had received immediate treatment,” Mwaibambe said.

He said the victims’ bodies were found with gunshot wounds and injured by sharp objects. He gave an assurance that the police would communicate with the Mozambique authorities to know the cause of the killings.

Mtwara Referral Hospital Acting Chief Medical Officer Dickson Sahimu, when asked about the dead bodies at his hospital, said he had no information as working hours were over.

“The reports have not reached my desk, and I can’t make a follow-up because working hours are over; maybe tomorrow,” Sahimu said.