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 told The Related Press, a surprising development at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness said the dead included a pregnant woman and plenty of youngsters.

The stampede on the event organized by the Kings Meeting Pentecostal church in Rivers state involved individuals who got here 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 financial system, the place more than 80 million people reside in poverty, in accordance with authorities 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. By some means the locked gate was damaged open, creating a stampede, she stated.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Management Agency said first responders have been capable of evacuate the our bodies of those trampled to dying and convey 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 could to emergency workers. Medical doctors and emergency staff handled a few of the injured as they lay within the open discipline. Movies from the scene confirmed the clothing, shoes and other objects meant for the beneficiaries.

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

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

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

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

Nigeria has seen related stampedes up to now.

Twenty-four folks died at an overcrowded church gathering within the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while at the very least 16 people had been killed in 2014 when a crowd received 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.