Kids 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 seven injured, police told The Related Press, a shocking growth at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness stated the dead included a pregnant lady and many kids.

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

Such occasions are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest financial system, where greater than 80 million folks live in poverty, in response to government 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. In some way the locked gate was damaged open, creating a stampede, she stated.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Company stated first responders had been able to evacuate the bodies of those 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 offering any help they may to emergency staff. Doctors and emergency employees treated a few of the injured as they lay within the open subject. Videos from the scene showed the clothing, footwear and different gadgets meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel stated "there have been so many youngsters” among the dead. Five of the dead children had been from one mother, he informed the AP, adding that a pregnant lady also misplaced her life.

Some church members have been attacked and injured by kinfolk of the victims after the stampede, in line with witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to touch upon the scenario.

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

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

Nigeria has seen related stampedes in the past.

Twenty-four people died at an overcrowded church gathering within the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while at the very least 16 folks have been killed in 2014 when a crowd bought uncontrolled throughout a screening for government jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

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