Children among 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity occasion in southern Nigeria left 31 individuals dead and 7 injured, police advised The Associated Press, a stunning development at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness mentioned the lifeless included a pregnant lady and plenty of youngsters.

The stampede at the occasion 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 keeping with Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokeswoman.

Such events are widespread in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economic system, the place more than 80 million folks 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 secure their place in line, Iringe-Koko said. One way or the other the locked gate was broken open, making a stampede, she stated.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Administration Company said first responders have been in a position to evacuate the our bodies of those trampled to demise and bring them to the morgue. Safety forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the useless and offering any assistance they may to emergency employees. Doctors and emergency employees handled some of the injured as they lay within the open discipline. Movies from the scene showed the clothes, sneakers and different items meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel mentioned "there were so many children” among the dead. Five of the useless youngsters had been from one mother, he informed the AP, including that a pregnant woman also lost her life.

Some church members have been attacked and injured by kin of the victims after the stampede, based on witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to comment on the situation.

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

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

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes previously.

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

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