Kids amongst 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 people lifeless and 7 injured, police informed The Related Press, a stunning growth at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness said the dead included a pregnant woman and plenty of youngsters.

The stampede at the event organized by the Kings Meeting Pentecostal church in Rivers state involved people who came 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 more than 80 million folks live in poverty, in response to authorities statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to start at 9 a.m. however dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to secure their place in line, Iringe-Koko said. Someway the locked gate was broken open, making a stampede, she stated.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Management Agency said first responders have been able to evacuate the bodies of those trampled to loss of life and produce them to the morgue. Safety forces cordoned off the realm.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the useless and providing any assistance they could to emergency employees. Docs and emergency workers handled among the injured as they lay within the open field. Videos from the scene showed the clothing, footwear and other items meant for the beneficiaries.

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

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

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

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

Nigeria has seen comparable stampedes prior to now.

Twenty-four folks died at an overcrowded church gathering in the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, whereas at the least 16 people have been killed in 2014 when a crowd bought uncontrolled throughout a screening for government jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

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