Youngsters amongst 31 killed at church honest stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 individuals dead and 7 injured, police instructed The Related Press, a stunning improvement at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness said the lifeless included a pregnant woman and lots of children.

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

Such events are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest financial system, where more than 80 million people live in poverty, in keeping with government 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 damaged open, making a stampede, she said.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Management Company stated first responders were capable of evacuate the our bodies of these trampled to dying and convey 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 staff. Medical doctors and emergency staff handled among the injured as they lay within the open field. Videos from the scene showed the clothes, shoes and different items meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who solely identified himself as Daniel said "there have been so many youngsters” among the many lifeless. Five of the useless kids have been from one mom, he told the AP, adding that a pregnant girl additionally misplaced her life.

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

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

The “Store 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 not less than 16 people were killed in 2014 when a crowd got out of control during a screening for presidency jobs within the nation's capital, Abuja.

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