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 7 injured, police instructed The Associated Press, a surprising improvement at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness mentioned the useless included a pregnant girl and plenty of kids.

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

Such events are widespread in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where greater than 80 million individuals live in poverty, in keeping with government statistics.

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

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Administration Company mentioned first responders were able to evacuate the bodies of these trampled to death and convey them to the morgue. Safety forces cordoned off the realm.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the dead and providing any assistance they might to emergency staff. Docs and emergency staff handled some of the injured as they lay within the open subject. Videos from the scene showed the clothing, sneakers and different items meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel stated "there have been so many kids” among the many useless. 5 of the dead kids have been from one mother, he informed the AP, including that a pregnant girl additionally misplaced her life.

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

The police spokeswoman stated the seven injured had been “responding to therapy."

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

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes previously.

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

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