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 individuals dead and seven injured, police told The Related Press, a surprising development at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness stated the useless included a pregnant woman and many kids.

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

Such occasions are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economic system, the place greater than 80 million people live in poverty, in response to government 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 mentioned. Somehow the locked gate was broken open, making a stampede, she mentioned.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Administration Agency mentioned first responders had been capable of evacuate the our bodies of these trampled to demise and convey them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the dead and offering any assistance they may to emergency workers. Docs and emergency staff handled a few of the injured as they lay within the open subject. Videos from the scene confirmed the clothes, footwear and different objects meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who solely recognized himself as Daniel mentioned "there have been so many children” among the lifeless. 5 of the lifeless kids had been from one mom, he advised the AP, including that a pregnant woman also lost her life.

Some church members had been attacked and injured by relatives of the victims after the stampede, in accordance with witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to touch upon the situation.

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

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

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes prior to now.

Twenty-four individuals died at an overcrowded church gathering within the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, whereas no less than 16 individuals were killed in 2014 when a crowd received out of control during a screening for presidency jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

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