Citizens from Kenya, India among 11 killed in Tanzania sugar factory

Dar es Salaam. Citizens from Kenya and India were among those killed in the Mtibwa sugar factory accident in Tanzania’s eastern region of Morogoro.

The incident happened following an electric fault on the heating system, officials from the Fire and Rescue Brigade (FRB) and the local police have confirmed.

“We have confirmed that one Kenyan, an Indian citizen and one Brazilian have died in the incident that happened early morning on May 23 at 1:30am,” Morogoro Police Regional Commander SACP Alex Mkama told journalists in Morogoro on May 23.

He said all the bodies have been preserved in the mortuary at the factory’s hospital.

SACP Mkama said the fatalities were all electrical and machine technicians who were at the control room conducting final touches before the start of the day’s production shift.

“Two people who were injured have been admitted to the Bwagala Mission Hospital in Turiani Ward,” SACP Mkama noted.

Earlier, Morogoro Regional Fire and Rescue Commander, Shaban Marugujo told The Citizen sister paper Mwananchi early on May 23 that a FRB’s team was immediately deployed at the scene of the accident to conduct rescue and evacuation exercises.

He said preliminary investigations indicate that there was a blast as the technical team was readying machines to start sugar production.

“We will release an official report once the investigation is complete," he said.

More to follow...