Children among 31 killed at church truthful 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 surprising development at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness said the dead included a pregnant lady and plenty of kids.

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

Such events are frequent in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where more than 80 million people reside in poverty, based on 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 said. Someway the locked gate was damaged open, creating a stampede, she said.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said first responders had been capable of evacuate the our bodies of those trampled to demise and bring them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the realm.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the useless and providing any help they may to emergency workers. Medical doctors and emergency workers handled a number of the injured as they lay within the open discipline. Movies from the scene confirmed the clothes, footwear and other items meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only recognized himself as Daniel stated "there were so many children” among the many useless. Five of the dead kids were from one mom, he advised the AP, including that a pregnant girl additionally misplaced her life.

Some church members have been attacked and injured by kinfolk of the victims after the stampede, based on witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to touch upon the state of affairs.

The police spokeswoman stated the seven injured had been “responding to therapy."

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

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes previously.

Twenty-four individuals died at an overcrowded church gathering within the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, whereas not less than 16 folks have been killed in 2014 when a crowd got uncontrolled throughout a screening for presidency jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

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