Youngsters amongst 31 killed at church truthful stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity occasion in southern Nigeria left 31 people lifeless and seven injured, police told The Related Press, a stunning improvement at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness said the lifeless included a pregnant girl and many kids.

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

Such events are frequent in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where greater than 80 million people reside 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 secure their place in line, Iringe-Koko mentioned. By some means the locked gate was damaged open, creating a stampede, she mentioned.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Management Agency mentioned first responders were capable of evacuate the bodies of these trampled to loss of life and produce them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the world.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the useless and providing any assistance they could to emergency staff. Doctors and emergency staff handled a number of the injured as they lay in the open field. Movies from the scene confirmed the clothes, footwear and different objects meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who solely identified himself as Daniel said "there were so many youngsters” among the many lifeless. Five of the dead children had been from one mom, he instructed the AP, adding that a pregnant lady additionally misplaced her life.

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

The police spokeswoman stated 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 similar stampedes in the past.

Twenty-four people died at an overcrowded church gathering in the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while no less than 16 people 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.