Children among 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 individuals dead and seven injured, police advised The Associated Press, a shocking development at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness stated the useless included a pregnant girl and lots of kids.

The stampede at the occasion organized by the Kings Meeting Pentecostal church in Rivers state concerned people who came to the church’s annual “Shop for Free” charity program, in accordance with Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokeswoman.

Such occasions are widespread in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economic system, the place greater than 80 million folks stay in poverty, in response to government statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to start at 9 a.m. but dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to safe their place in line, Iringe-Koko said. In some way the locked gate was damaged open, making a stampede, she mentioned.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Company stated first responders have been in a position to evacuate the bodies of those trampled to death and convey them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the useless and providing any assistance they may to emergency workers. Medical doctors and emergency staff handled a number of the injured as they lay in the open subject. Movies from the scene confirmed the clothes, footwear and different items meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who solely recognized himself as Daniel mentioned "there were so many youngsters” among the many useless. Five of the useless kids have been from one mom, he instructed the AP, including that a pregnant girl also misplaced her life.

Some church members have been attacked and injured by family of the victims after the stampede, in keeping with witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to touch upon the situation.

The police spokeswoman stated the seven injured were “responding to treatment."

The “Shop for Free” event was suspended while authorities investigated how the stampede occurred.

Nigeria has seen comparable stampedes prior to now.

Twenty-four individuals died at an overcrowded church gathering in the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while no less than 16 folks have been killed in 2014 when a crowd acquired out of control throughout a screening for government jobs within the nation's capital, Abuja.

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Associated Press journalist Hilary Uguru in Warri, Nigeria, contributed.