Kids among 31 killed at church truthful stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity occasion in southern Nigeria left 31 people useless and seven injured, police told The Associated Press, a shocking growth at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness mentioned the dead included a pregnant lady and many youngsters.

The stampede on the occasion organized by the Kings Meeting Pentecostal church in Rivers state involved individuals who got here to the church’s annual “Shop for Free” charity program, based on Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokeswoman.

Such events are widespread in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economic system, the place greater than 80 million individuals live in poverty, in accordance with government statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to start at 9 a.m. however dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to secure their place in line, Iringe-Koko said. Someway the locked gate was damaged open, creating a stampede, she mentioned.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Management Company said first responders were in a position to evacuate the our bodies of these trampled to demise and bring them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the dead and offering any assistance they may to emergency employees. Medical doctors and emergency staff handled a few of the injured as they lay within the open discipline. Movies from the scene showed the clothes, footwear and other objects meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who solely identified himself as Daniel mentioned "there were so many youngsters” among the lifeless. 5 of the useless children have been from one mom, he informed the AP, adding that a pregnant lady additionally misplaced her life.

Some church members had been attacked and injured by relations of the victims after the stampede, according to witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to comment on the situation.

The police spokeswoman stated the seven injured had been “responding to therapy."

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

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes previously.

Twenty-four individuals died at an overcrowded church gathering in the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while not less than 16 folks were killed in 2014 when a crowd bought uncontrolled during a screening for government jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

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