Youngsters among 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 individuals useless and 7 injured, police told The Related Press, a stunning growth at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness mentioned the useless included a pregnant lady and plenty of youngsters.

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

Such events are frequent in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, where more than 80 million individuals stay in poverty, in line with authorities statistics.

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

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Administration Agency stated first responders had been able to evacuate the our bodies of those trampled to demise and produce them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the useless and providing any help they could to emergency staff. Doctors and emergency employees handled a number of the injured as they lay in the open subject. Movies from the scene showed the clothing, shoes and different objects meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel mentioned "there have been so many children” among the many dead. 5 of the useless youngsters were from one mother, he told the AP, adding that a pregnant girl additionally lost her life.

Some church members have been attacked and injured by relatives of the victims after the stampede, according to witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to touch upon the scenario.

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

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

Nigeria has seen comparable stampedes previously.

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

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