Four people, including a pregnant woman, were killed after a vehicle in the convoy carrying the body of the late Malawi Vice-President Saulos Chilima hit mourners, police say.
Twelve other people were injured in the incident on Sunday night and were being treated in hospital.
It followed clashes between local people, the police and soldiers escorting the late vice-president’s funeral convoy from the capital, Lilongwe, to his home village for burial.
Mr Chilima died in a plane crash a week ago and is due to be buried later on Monday in his home district of Ntcheu, some 180 km (112 miles) south of the capital.
Thousands of people had lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the coffin as it was being transported for burial on Sunday.
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As the procession passed through areas close to Mr Chilima’s home, some people started to throw stones at government vehicles and officials.
In the commotion, one vehicle went off the road, hitting a groups of mourners, killing four of them, according to a police statement.
The spokesman for Mr Chilima’s UTM party told the AFP news agency there was some tension along the route as mourners demanded the procession stop so they could see the coffin.
“In Dedza, people blocked the road and demanded to see the coffin,” Felix Njawala was quoted as saying.
BBC.
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