Children 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 dead and 7 injured, police advised The Related Press, a surprising growth at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness said the lifeless included a pregnant girl and plenty of children.

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

Such occasions are frequent in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where more than 80 million people stay in poverty, according 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 stated. One way or the other the locked gate was damaged open, creating a stampede, she stated.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Administration Agency mentioned first responders had been in a position to evacuate the our bodies of these trampled to death and convey them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the realm.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the useless and providing any help they might to emergency staff. Docs and emergency workers treated a number of the injured as they lay within the open subject. Movies from the scene confirmed the clothing, footwear and different objects meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel mentioned "there have been so many children” among the many dead. 5 of the dead children have been from one mother, he told the AP, including that a pregnant woman additionally lost her life.

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

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

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

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes previously.

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

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