About 700 people have been killed during three days of election protests in Tanzania, the main opposition party has claimed.

Protests erupted on election day Wednesday over what demonstrators said was the suppression of the opposition after key candidates were excluded from the presidential ballot.

John Kitoka, spokesperson for the Chadema opposition party, told AFP that hundreds had died since the unrest began.

As we speak, the figure for deaths in Dar es Salaam is around 350 and for Mwanza it is 200-plus. Added to figures from other places around the country, the overall figure is around 700,” Kitoka said, adding that the toll could be much higher due to killings taking place during a night-time curfew imposed from Wednesday.

A security source also told AFP there had been reports of more than 500 deaths, “maybe 700–800 in the whole country.”

Amnesty International said it had received information that at least 100 people had been killed.

Kitoka said Chadema’s figures were based on a network of party members visiting hospitals and health clinics to “count dead bodies.”

He urged the government to “stop killing our protesters” and called for a transitional administration to ensure free and fair elections. “Stop police brutality. Respect the will of the people, which is electoral justice,” he added.

In April, Chadema vice-chair Tundu Lissu was arrested and charged with treason and cybercrime offences. The party, which had called for a boycott of the polls unless electoral reforms were implemented, was later disqualified from the election.

Last month, Luhaga Mpina, leader of another opposition group, ACT-Wazalendo, was also barred from running, leaving President Samia Suluhu Hassan to face only lesser-known opponents from minor parties.

Government critics were reportedly abducted and arrested in the run-up to the polls.

Since Wednesday, huge crowds of protesters have clashed with police and attacked businesses linked to the ruling party. The demonstrations, initially concentrated in the port city of Dar es Salaam, have now spread across the country.