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 folks dead and 7 injured, police informed The Associated Press, a stunning growth at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness stated the lifeless included a pregnant girl and plenty of youngsters.

The stampede on the event organized by the Kings Assembly Pentecostal church in Rivers state involved people 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 economy, where greater than 80 million folks stay in poverty, in accordance with government statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to begin at 9 a.m. however dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to safe their place in line, Iringe-Koko mentioned. In some way the locked gate was broken open, creating a stampede, she stated.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Administration Company mentioned first responders were able to evacuate the our bodies of these trampled to loss of life and bring them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the lifeless and offering any help they might to emergency employees. Docs and emergency staff handled a few of the injured as they lay within the open field. Movies from the scene confirmed the clothes, sneakers and different objects meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel stated "there have been so many kids” among the useless. Five of the lifeless youngsters were from one mother, he told the AP, adding that a pregnant lady also lost her life.

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

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

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

Nigeria has seen related stampedes in the past.

Twenty-four people died at an overcrowded church gathering within the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while not less than 16 folks have been killed in 2014 when a crowd obtained out of control during a screening for government jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

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