Kids amongst 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 folks lifeless and 7 injured, police advised The Associated Press, a surprising growth at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness mentioned the lifeless included a pregnant lady and many kids.

The stampede on 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 keeping with Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokeswoman.

Such occasions are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest financial system, the place greater than 80 million individuals dwell in poverty, in line with government statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to begin at 9 a.m. however dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to safe their place in line, Iringe-Koko said. By some means the locked gate was broken open, creating a stampede, she said.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Management Agency said first responders have been able to evacuate the bodies of these trampled to loss of life and produce them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the useless and offering any help they may to emergency employees. Medical doctors and emergency employees handled a few of the injured as they lay in the open field. Movies from the scene confirmed the clothing, sneakers and other objects meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only recognized himself as Daniel stated "there have been so many kids” among the useless. Five of the lifeless kids were from one mother, he informed the AP, adding that a pregnant woman also misplaced her life.

Some church members have been attacked and injured by kin of the victims after the stampede, according to witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to touch upon the scenario.

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

The “Store for Free” occasion was suspended whereas 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 a minimum of 16 folks were killed in 2014 when a crowd got uncontrolled during a screening for presidency jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

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