Kids among 31 killed at church truthful stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity occasion in southern Nigeria left 31 people dead and 7 injured, police informed The Associated Press, a shocking development at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness said the useless included a pregnant woman and plenty of children.

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

Such events are widespread in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where more than 80 million folks reside in poverty, in response to government statistics.

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

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency stated first responders have been capable of evacuate the our bodies of those trampled to dying and produce them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the lifeless and offering any help they might to emergency workers. Docs and emergency staff handled a number of the injured as they lay in the open area. Movies from the scene confirmed the clothing, shoes and other objects meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who solely identified himself as Daniel mentioned "there have been so many kids” among the many lifeless. 5 of the lifeless children had been from one mother, he advised the AP, adding that a pregnant girl also misplaced her life.

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

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

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

Nigeria has seen comparable stampedes previously.

Twenty-four folks died at an overcrowded church gathering in 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.