Children amongst 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity occasion in southern Nigeria left 31 folks useless and 7 injured, police told The Related Press, a shocking improvement at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness mentioned the useless included a pregnant lady and lots of kids.

The stampede at the event organized by the Kings Meeting 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 occasions are frequent in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where greater than 80 million folks reside in poverty, according to authorities 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 stated. In some way the locked gate was damaged open, creating a stampede, she said.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency mentioned first responders had been able to evacuate the our bodies of those trampled to demise and convey them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the dead and providing any help they may to emergency workers. Medical doctors and emergency workers handled a few of the injured as they lay in the open subject. Movies from the scene showed the clothing, footwear and different gadgets meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only recognized himself as Daniel said "there have been so many children” among the lifeless. 5 of the useless kids have been from one mother, he told the AP, including that a pregnant woman also lost her life.

Some church members were attacked and injured by kinfolk of the victims after the stampede, in line with witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to touch upon the situation.

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

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

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes in the past.

Twenty-four individuals died at an overcrowded church gathering within the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, whereas no less than 16 folks have been killed in 2014 when a crowd got uncontrolled during a screening for presidency jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

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