More than 200 people have collapsed during the burial of ace Tanzania film star Steven Kanumba, who died last Saturday.

A little over 30,000 people in Dar es Salaam, including actors, fans, friends, artistes and family turned up for his burial.

The 28-year-old was buried at Kinondoni cemetery.

The BBC’s Erick Nampesya in the city says many people flocked to the funeral service to see for themselves that Mr Kanumba was dead and the burial had to be halted at one stage as police struggled to control the crowd.

Police say Mr Kanumba died after an accidental fall during an argument with his girlfriend Elizabeth Michael.

The 18-year-old Elizabeth Michael Kimemeta alias “Lulu” was still being held at Oysterbay Police Station by Saturday night. She told police that Steven picked a quarrel with her when he demanded to know who was calling on her phone at about 1:00am.

“Lulu said when he got aggressive she tried to run away but Kanumba caught up with her outside the gate and took her back to the bedroom. She says he collapsed as soon as he locked the door and hit the wall,” said Kinondoni Regional Police Commander Charles Kenyela.

But the grapevine has some significant variations.