Youngsters amongst 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

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

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

Such events are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economic system, where greater than 80 million people live in poverty, in response to government statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to begin at 9 a.m. but dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to safe their place in line, Iringe-Koko mentioned. One way or the other the locked gate was broken open, making a stampede, she mentioned.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Administration Company stated first responders were in a position to evacuate the bodies of those trampled to death and bring them to the morgue. Safety forces cordoned off the realm.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the lifeless and offering any help they might to emergency staff. Docs and emergency staff handled a few of the injured as they lay within the open area. Videos from the scene showed the clothes, footwear and different gadgets meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only recognized himself as Daniel mentioned "there were so many youngsters” among the many lifeless. Five of the dead children have been from one mom, he advised the AP, including that a pregnant lady additionally lost her life.

Some church members had been attacked and injured by relatives of the victims after the stampede, according to witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to touch upon the state of affairs.

The police spokeswoman mentioned the seven injured have been “responding to remedy."

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

Nigeria has seen comparable stampedes previously.

Twenty-four folks died at an overcrowded church gathering within the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while at the very least 16 folks had been killed in 2014 when a crowd received out of control throughout a screening for presidency jobs within the nation's capital, Abuja.

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