Youngsters among 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 individuals dead and seven injured, police told The Related Press, a shocking improvement at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness said the useless included a pregnant woman and plenty of children.

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

Such occasions are widespread in Nigeria, Africa’s largest financial system, the place more than 80 million folks live in poverty, in accordance with authorities statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to start at 9 a.m. but 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 broken open, creating a stampede, she said.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Company said first responders had been able to evacuate the bodies of these trampled to demise and convey them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the world.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the lifeless and offering any assistance they might to emergency workers. Doctors and emergency staff treated a number of the injured as they lay within the open field. Movies from the scene confirmed the clothes, footwear and different items meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who solely recognized himself as Daniel stated "there have been so many children” among the many useless. Five of the useless children had been from one mother, he informed the AP, including that a pregnant woman additionally lost her life.

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

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

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

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes up to now.

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

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