At least 20 worshipers were killed and 16 others injured in a stampede at a church service Saturday evening at a stadium in northern Tanzania, local police said on Sunday.

A group of worshipers packed a stadium in Moshi, a town at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, and crushed each other as they rushed to get anointed with blessed oil offered by a pastor.

"The stampede occurred between 7:30 p.m. (1630 GMT) and 8 p.m. on Saturday as worshipers rushed to doors of the stadium where the anointing oil was placed, causing the mayhem", Kilimanjaro regional police commander Salum Hamduni said.

Police arrested seven people in connection with the stampede, Hamduni added.

President John Magufuli also issued a statement mourning the death of 20 people in Moshi, as well as 20 others killed by floods in Tanzania's southern Lindi region this week. "I'm very sorry for the deaths of these Tanzanians in the two events," Magufuli said.