Police have told the BBC a woman and four children were killed in a stampede when Tanzanians lamented former President John Magufuli.
According to some reports, the death toll could be at most 40, but officials have not confirmed this.
Tens of thousands of people turned up at a stadium in Dar es Salaam to view the body of the former president.
Mr Magufuli, called the bulldozer, was popular with many Tanzanians because of his non-nonsense driving style.
Critics, however, accused him of being an autocrat and of sticking to disagreement.
He also underestimated the effects of coronavirus and stopped publishing the country’s case numbers and deaths. Opposition politicians say Magufuli died at Covid-19, but this has not been confirmed.
‘Overwhelming sadness’
The wife of Dennis Mtuwa, two of his children, a nephew and a niece, has been confirmed among the dead after Sunday’s rush, reports the BBC’s Salim Kikeke of Dar es Salaaam.
“These last 24 hours have been very difficult for me. I feel relieved when I am surrounded by people, but when I am alone, the amount of sadness becomes overwhelming,” said Mr. Mtuwa told the BBC.
The city’s police commander Lazaro Mambosasa said he would give further details on Tuesday.
On Monday, thousands of Tanzanians attended Magufuli’s state funeral in the capital, Dodoma, attended by several African leaders who allegedly paid tribute.
The continent was ‘saddened by the death of a revolutionary’, Democratic Republic of Congo Felix Tshisekedi said of Mr Magufuli who passed away last week after heart complications at the age of 61.
Tanzania’s new president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, remembered her predecessor as a campaigner for the poor and a religious man.
“He was not only our leader, but also a guardian and parent to many … and an honest man,” President Samia said.
Tanzanian leaders who attended the funeral, and the majority of the thousands of people in the stadium in Dodoma, did not wear face masks or take social distances – health measures that the late president often mocked.
However, visiting leaders and other delegations did wear masks.
He is buried Friday in his northwestern hometown of Chato.
What did the African leaders say?
The president of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, said the former Tanzanian president “will remain in the hearts of many people”.
In his tribute, the President of Malawi, Lazarus Chakwera, addressed Mr. Magufuli refers to ‘Africa’s best boy’ whose ‘service life’ would be remembered.
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, described him as a ‘true pan-Africanist’ who was incompetent to be an African.
Mr. Ramaphosa remembers the former president because he was a ‘fighter’ against corruption and worked for his people.
He also said that the Tanzanian president was a champion of African culture and traditions, especially the use of Swahili, East Africa’s lingua franca, throughout the continent.
“Swahili was introduced in South African schools as an honor to the late President John Magufuli who insisted on it,” Ramaphosa said.
This was repeated by the President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi Masese, who said that Mr. Magufuli was a ‘great teacher’, as was Tanzania’s founding president Julius Nyerere.
“Even in Botswana, he expected us to speak Swahili … We also introduced Swahili in our curricula.”
In his tribute, the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, also addressed the successor of Magufuli, saying: “To you, my sister and now my peer, the way has been shown to you by our brother, President Magufuli.”
“The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the African Union together are saddened by the death of the revolutionary Dr John Magufuli. We pray for Tanzanians. The DR Congo is with you in this difficult period,” said President Tshisekedi, who is currently , said President of the African Union.