DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Nineteen Tanzanian children aged between five and 12 suffocated and died in a disco during a party to mark the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday, a government official said on Thursday.
The children died during the daytime festivities on Wednesday in a building in Tabora town, about 760 km (475 miles) northwest of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
"There are 19 people dead, 11 girls and eight boys, aged between five and 12. They were in a children's disco, celebrating Eid," Salva Rweyemamu, director of communications at Tanzania's presidential office, told Reuters.
"The president (Jakaya Kikwete) says he is really saddened."
Rweyemamu, citing Tabora police and officials, added that 17 other children were in hospital with injuries.
One organiser of the event, one of many such Eid celebrations across Tanzania, had been arrested, he said.
Tabora officials were unavailable to give more details.
It was not known how many children were in the disco at the time, or what exactly caused the suffocation.
(Reporting by George Obulutsa)