Kids among 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity occasion in southern Nigeria left 31 people useless and 7 injured, police informed The Associated Press, a shocking improvement at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness said the useless included a pregnant girl and plenty of children.

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

Such occasions are frequent in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economic system, where greater than 80 million folks dwell in poverty, in line with authorities statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to start at 9 a.m. but dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to secure their place in line, Iringe-Koko mentioned. Somehow the locked gate was broken open, creating a stampede, she mentioned.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency stated first responders had been capable of evacuate the bodies of those trampled to dying and produce them to the morgue. Safety forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the lifeless and providing any assistance they could to emergency employees. Doctors and emergency workers treated a number of the injured as they lay in the open area. Movies from the scene showed the clothes, sneakers and different gadgets meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel stated "there were so many children” among the many dead. Five of the dead kids had been from one mom, he advised the AP, adding that a pregnant girl also lost her life.

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

The police spokeswoman mentioned the seven injured were “responding to treatment."

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

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes previously.

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

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