Kids among 31 killed at church honest stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity occasion in southern Nigeria left 31 people lifeless and seven injured, police informed The Associated Press, a stunning development at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness stated the dead included a pregnant lady and plenty of children.

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

Such events are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economic system, where greater than 80 million people reside in poverty, in keeping with authorities statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to begin at 9 a.m. but dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to secure 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 Management Agency stated first responders were capable of evacuate the our bodies of those trampled to death and bring them to the morgue. Safety forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the dead and providing any help they might to emergency staff. Docs and emergency staff handled among the injured as they lay in the open field. Movies from the scene showed the clothes, shoes and different gadgets meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who solely recognized himself as Daniel mentioned "there have been so many youngsters” among the many useless. Five of the lifeless children had been from one mom, he told the AP, adding that a pregnant lady also lost her life.

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

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

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

Nigeria has seen comparable stampedes in the past.

Twenty-four people died at an overcrowded church gathering within the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, whereas not less than 16 individuals were killed in 2014 when a crowd bought uncontrolled throughout a screening for presidency jobs within the nation's capital, Abuja.

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