Youngsters amongst 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

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

The stampede on the occasion organized by the Kings Assembly Pentecostal church in Rivers state concerned individuals who came 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 economy, where greater than 80 million individuals stay in poverty, in keeping 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 stated. One way or the other the locked gate was damaged open, making a stampede, she said.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Administration Company stated first responders were in a position to evacuate the our bodies of these trampled to demise and convey them to the morgue. Safety forces cordoned off the world.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the lifeless and providing any help they might to emergency workers. Docs and emergency employees treated a number of the injured as they lay in the open field. Movies from the scene confirmed the clothing, footwear and other objects meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel said "there have been so many kids” among the many useless. Five of the lifeless youngsters have been from one mother, he advised the AP, including that a pregnant girl also misplaced her life.

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

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

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

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes in the past.

Twenty-four people died at an overcrowded church gathering in the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, whereas at least 16 people had been killed in 2014 when a crowd received out of control during a screening for government jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

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