Relatives of former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa have said he died of a heart attack while suffering from malaria.
Family member William Erio told a funeral mass, broadcast on state television, that he wanted to dispel rumours that Mr Mkapa had been infected with coronavirus.
No cause was given when the death of the 81-year-old was announced on Friday. He was the third president of Tanzania, leading the country from 1995 to 2005.
Tanzania has stopped publishing statistics on Covid-19 cases and the current leader, John Magufuli, has been accused of covering up the scale of the problem.
Officially there have been just over 521 deaths in Tanzania - far fewer than in neighbouring countries.
Source: BBC
