Arrests after bags of body parts found in Tanzania

Police and journalists at a crime scene in Arusha, Tanzania. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • Those arrested were reported to work at a private medical teaching college.
  • It was not clear how many bodies were included in the bags.

DAR ES SALAAM

Tanzanian police said on Tuesday they had arrested eight people after 85 bags stuffed with human body parts including limbs, fingers and skulls were found dumped in a landfill.

The black bin bags were discovered on Monday in a suburb of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

“We have arrested eight suspects in connection with the 85 bags found in Kinondoni area of Dar es Salaam,” city police chief Suleiman Kova told AFP.

Those arrested were reported to work at a private medical teaching college.

“We are detaining them for interrogation over the alleged dumping of the human body parts,” Kova added.

It was not clear how many bodies were included in the bags, each of which reportedly contained several kilogrammes of flesh.

Kova said limbs, fingers and skulls were all found in the bags, but that the flesh was not fresh.

“I can’t say how many human bodies were there, but we have taken them to Muhimbili National Hospital for further testing,” he said.