DODOMA, Tanzania — Twenty people were killed and a dozen others injured in a stampede during a church meeting in the northern Tanzanian city of Moshi, the government said on Sunday.

It was not immediately clear what prompted the stampede, which took place on Saturday. But it occurred when church faithful were being ushered through an exit so that they could walk on “anointed oil,” according to a government spokesman.

Hundreds of worshipers were attending a prayer meeting led by Boniface Mwamposa, a popular preacher who leads the Arise and Shine Ministry Tanzania.

Local news outlets reported that Mr. Mwamposa had flown to the city of Dar es Salaam, on the Tanzanian coast, after the stampede to lead a prayer service at another branch of his church.