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

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

Such events are widespread in Nigeria, Africa’s largest financial system, where greater than 80 million people live in poverty, according to 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 mentioned. In some way the locked gate was damaged open, creating a stampede, she said.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Management Agency mentioned first responders were able to evacuate the our bodies of these trampled to loss of life and bring them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the realm.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the dead and offering any help they could to emergency staff. Docs and emergency employees treated some of the injured as they lay in the open discipline. Movies from the scene showed the clothes, footwear and other objects meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who solely identified himself as Daniel said "there were so many children” among the many useless. 5 of the dead kids have been from one mother, he told the AP, adding that a pregnant girl also lost her life.

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

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

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

Nigeria has seen comparable stampedes up to now.

Twenty-four folks died at an overcrowded church gathering within the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, whereas no less than 16 folks were killed in 2014 when a crowd got uncontrolled during a screening for presidency jobs within the nation's capital, Abuja.

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