Youngsters among 31 killed at church truthful stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 people useless and 7 injured, police informed The Associated Press, a shocking development at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness said the dead included a pregnant woman and many youngsters.

The stampede on the event organized by the Kings Assembly Pentecostal church in Rivers state involved individuals who came to the church’s annual “Shop for Free” charity program, in response to Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokeswoman.

Such events are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where greater than 80 million folks live in poverty, according to authorities statistics.

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

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency mentioned first responders had been in a position to evacuate the our bodies of these trampled to death and bring them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the realm.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the useless and offering any help they could to emergency workers. Docs and emergency workers treated among the injured as they lay within the open discipline. Movies from the scene showed the clothing, sneakers and other gadgets meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel said "there were so many youngsters” among the dead. Five of the dead children were from one mom, he told the AP, adding that a pregnant lady also lost her life.

Some church members have been attacked and injured by kin of the victims after the stampede, in line with witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to comment on the scenario.

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

The “Store for Free” occasion was suspended while authorities investigated how the stampede occurred.

Nigeria has seen related stampedes previously.

Twenty-four people died at an overcrowded church gathering in the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while not less than 16 folks had been killed in 2014 when a crowd obtained out of control throughout a screening for government jobs within the nation's capital, Abuja.

—

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