The first shots echoed across Arusha before noon of October 29. Sharp. Sudden. Merciless.
Protesters scattered, some clutching rocks, others carrying nothing at all. Yet the bullets kept coming.
Verified videos reviewed by CNN and open-source investigators show armed police and plain-clothed men firing live rounds at crowds protesting President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s 98% re-election: a result secured after her main rivals were barred from the race.
The footage is stark. The sequence is undeniable. And the killings, investigators say, were systematic.
Pregnant woman shot in the back
One clip captures a young pregnant woman in a lavender blouse running from gunfire. She carries a stick and a stone. Her hat flaps behind her.
A single bullet hits her back. She drops instantly. Blood blooms across her blouse.
Attempts to lift her fail as more shots ring out. Moments later, she lies still. She was three months pregnant. She leaves behind two children.
Audio-forensic analysis places the shooter roughly 112 metres away, consistent with police positioned on a rise above the crowd.
A young man falls
Two minutes later, another protester in a red shirt collapses from a headshot. His hands are empty. He stands nearly 100 meters from the police. He never moves again.
A trembling voice behind the camera mutters, “Oh my God, this is our Tanzania,” before breaking into a prayer.
Both shootings were verified, geolocated and analysed frame-by-frame.
Bodies in the morgues
Inside Mwananyamala Hospital in Dar es Salaam, bodies cover the tiled floor. Dozens. Piled on top of each other. No tags. No space left.
The Ministry of Health denies the footage. But a senior doctor in Mwanza confirms the pattern.
“They brought bodies until the morgue was full,”he says. “Then they piled more outside.”
Gunshot wounds. Head. Chest. Abdomen. Mostly young men.
In Mwanza, at least ten bodies lie stacked on a stretcher outside Sekou-Toure Hospital. Families hover nearby, clutching photos, begging for names.
A doctor told CNN that police ordered medics not to attend to injured persons who were still alive and ordered them to be taken to the mogue.
Geolocated videos from the scenes, audio forensic analysis of the shots fired and first-hand accounts from witnesses and victims document the brutality unleashed on young demonstrators following the re-election of President Samia Suluhu Hassan – who claimed she won with 98% of… pic.twitter.com/VEl6voRo1J
— CNN Africa (@CNNAfrica) November 21, 2025
Blackouts, curfews, silence
A curfew and an internet blackout fell over the country within hours of the unrest. Videos trickled out only after connectivity partially returned.
Police then warned citizens against sharing images “that cause panic.”
Opposition leader Tundu Lissu remains jailed for treason. His party claims “thousands” were killed in the days after polling.
Plain-clothes gunmen and white pickups
Across Dar es Salaam, geolocated videos show men climbing out of unmarked white pickups, roaming narrow streets and firing into courtyards where protesters hide.
Uniformed police stand beside them.
Drone footage from Segerea captures residents fleeing into alleys as the truck approaches. Gunshots follow.
Sports agency Viral Scout Management later confirms seven of its young footballers were shot dead in their homes. Six bodies are still missing.
Mass burials
Satellite imagery from Planet Labs reveals fresh digging at Kondo Cemetery: disturbed soil forming new mounds away from known graves.
The digging occurred between November 2 and 5.
Witnesses say trucks arrived at night. Human rights groups warn of mass burials.
A video filmed on the ground shows uneven patches of overturned earth. On one mound lies a scrap of fabric. No markers. No names.
READ ALSO: Dar es Salaam: Protests, Flames and Fury as Tanzania’s Election Rage Defies Curfew
A nation searching for answers
President Hassan has admitted to “some casualties” but released no figures. She has launched a commission. She has offered no clarity.
Tanzania, once regarded as a regional beacon of calm democracy, now faces brutal questions:
Who ordered the shootings? Who buried the bodies? And how many families will never find their dead?
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