Three park rangers have been arrested in Tanzania after a 25-year-old man died and another was left critically injured following their detention in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
The three rangers were detained after police opened an investigation into what happened to the men, who were accused of entering the protected area illegally.
Police said the three men had been travelling by motorcycle from Arusha to Babati, about 166km (103 miles) away, to attend a funeral when they lost their way.
They entered the Ngorongoro Conservation Area before realising they were on the wrong route and attempted to turn back.
It was then, according to police and one of the survivors, that they were detained by park rangers.
Sefu Musa, 25, later died. His fellow traveller, Salimu Haji is in hospital in a critical condition, while Abdallah Nuru managed to make his way back to Arusha.
Nuru has alleged that the three men were badly beaten during their detention.
He told local media that they explained they had lost their way and were travelling to a funeral, but the rangers accused them of being poachers.
Nuru said the men were ordered to remove their clothes and roll over thorny shrubs while water was poured over them. He also alleged that they were beaten.
According to his account, both Musa and Haji lost consciousness during the ordeal.
Nuru said he later helped take the two injured men to hospital. Musa was pronounced dead, while Haji remained critically ill.
Police have not publicly confirmed the allegations of torture or said what caused Musa’s death. The three rangers were arrested while investigators examine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
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The case is likely to renew questions about how conservation laws are enforced in Ngorongoro.
Rights groups and local communities have previously accused authorities and conservation officers of excessive force, arbitrary arrests and harassment.
The area has also been at the centre of a long-running dispute over the treatment of Maasai communities, who have lived alongside wildlife there for generations.
Authorities have defended conservation enforcement, saying measures are necessary to protect the protected area and ensure that regulations are followed.
But the death of Musa and the injuries suffered by his companions have once again put the methods used to enforce those rules under scrutiny.
