Children amongst 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity occasion in southern Nigeria left 31 people useless and seven injured, police advised The Associated Press, a surprising improvement at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness mentioned the dead included a pregnant woman and many youngsters.

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

Such events are frequent in Nigeria, Africa’s largest financial system, where more than 80 million people stay in poverty, in response to government statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to begin at 9 a.m. however dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to secure their place in line, Iringe-Koko stated. One way or the other the locked gate was damaged open, creating a stampede, she stated.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s Nationwide Emergency Management Agency said first responders have been in a position to evacuate the our bodies of those trampled to dying and produce 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 could to emergency staff. Medical doctors and emergency staff treated some of the injured as they lay within the open subject. Videos from the scene confirmed the clothes, sneakers and different items meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who solely recognized himself as Daniel stated "there were so many children” among the dead. Five of the dead kids were from one mother, he advised the AP, including that a pregnant girl also lost her life.

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

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

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

Nigeria has seen comparable stampedes in the past.

Twenty-four folks died at an overcrowded church gathering in the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while a minimum of 16 folks had been killed in 2014 when a crowd acquired uncontrolled throughout a screening for government jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

—

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