Youngsters 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 seven injured, police instructed The Related Press, a stunning development at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness mentioned the useless included a pregnant girl and many kids.

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

Such occasions are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest financial system, where more than 80 million individuals reside in poverty, in accordance with 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. One way or the other the locked gate was damaged open, making a stampede, she stated.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Management Agency mentioned first responders have been capable of evacuate the bodies of these trampled to dying and convey them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the realm.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the lifeless and offering any assistance they may to emergency staff. Medical doctors and emergency employees handled among the injured as they lay within the open area. Videos from the scene confirmed the clothes, shoes and different gadgets meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who solely recognized himself as Daniel said "there were so many kids” among the useless. Five of the useless children had been from one mother, he told the AP, including that a pregnant lady also misplaced her life.

Some church members were attacked and injured by family members of the victims after the stampede, based on witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to comment on the scenario.

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

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

Nigeria has seen related stampedes prior to now.

Twenty-four people died at an overcrowded church gathering within the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while at the least 16 individuals have been killed in 2014 when a crowd acquired out of control 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.