Zanu-PF rally stampede victim named

The woman who died at a Zanu-PF rally at Chubuku Stadium in Chitungwiza has been identified as Regina Matau.

Matau, a mother of four is believed to have suffocated in a scrum with other party supporters for free t-shirts at a rally addressed by the Zanu-PF leader at Chibuku Stadium in Chutungwiza.

Zanu-PF said it would pay all the funeral costs with senior party officials expected to attend her burial whose date is yet to be confirmed.

"We have since assisted the family with all burial costs as she contributed immensely to the party," said the party's Harare province chairman Amos Midzi.

Midzi angrily dismissed media reports claiming Matau was not even a party supporter but had attended the rally to get the free T-shirts and other campaign regalia.

He said Matau had served as a collaborator during the liberation struggle and was active in the party's Chitungwiza district structures.

Thousands of people attended the rally and witnesses said Matau was injured in a stampede as hordes of people scrambled for T-shirts and baseball caps that were being thrown into the crowd.

Police said she was rushed to Chitungwiza Central Hospital where she later died. Several other people injured in the scrum were also treated at the hospital.

"We treated 25 people who came directly from the stadium, among them the deceased woman. The woman is yet to be identified," said Chitungwiza Central Hospital chief executive Dr Obadiah Moyo.