Youngsters 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 useless and seven injured, police informed The Associated Press, a stunning improvement at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness stated the dead included a pregnant woman and many children.

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

Such occasions are frequent in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, the place more than 80 million folks dwell in poverty, based on 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. In some way the locked gate was broken open, making a stampede, she said.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Administration Company said first responders had been capable of evacuate the bodies of those trampled to demise and bring them to the morgue. Safety forces cordoned off the world.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the useless and providing any help they might to emergency workers. Docs and emergency employees handled among the injured as they lay in the open field. Videos from the scene confirmed the clothing, shoes and other items meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who solely identified himself as Daniel stated "there have been so many kids” among the dead. Five of the dead children were from one mother, he instructed the AP, adding that a pregnant woman also misplaced her life.

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

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

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

Nigeria has seen comparable stampedes up to now.

Twenty-four people died at an overcrowded church gathering in the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, whereas at least 16 people were killed in 2014 when a crowd received out of control 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.