Children among 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 people useless and 7 injured, police told The Related Press, a shocking development at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness mentioned the dead included a pregnant woman and plenty of kids.

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

Such events are frequent in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economic system, the place greater than 80 million individuals stay in poverty, in keeping with 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 mentioned. By some means the locked gate was broken open, creating a stampede, she mentioned.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Administration Company mentioned first responders were able to evacuate the our bodies of those trampled to loss of life and produce them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the realm.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the dead and providing any help they may to emergency staff. Medical doctors and emergency workers handled some of the injured as they lay in the open area. Movies from the scene showed the clothes, sneakers and different items meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel said "there were so many kids” among the dead. Five of the lifeless youngsters had been from one mom, he informed the AP, including that a pregnant woman also misplaced her life.

Some church members had been attacked and injured by family of the victims after the stampede, according to witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to touch upon the state of affairs.

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

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

Nigeria has seen related stampedes in the past.

Twenty-four people died at an overcrowded church gathering in the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while not less than 16 individuals had been killed in 2014 when a crowd obtained out of control during a screening for presidency jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

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