Youngsters amongst 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 people lifeless and 7 injured, police told The Associated Press, a shocking growth at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness mentioned the dead included a pregnant girl and lots of youngsters.

The stampede on the event organized by the Kings Assembly Pentecostal church in Rivers state involved individuals who came to the church’s annual “Shop for Free” charity program, based on Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokeswoman.

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

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency mentioned first responders have been able to evacuate the our bodies of those trampled to loss of life and produce them to the morgue. Security forces cordoned off the realm.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the lifeless and offering any assistance they might to emergency employees. Medical doctors and emergency employees handled among the injured as they lay within the open subject. Videos from the scene showed the clothes, sneakers and different objects meant for the beneficiaries.

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

Some church members were attacked and injured by family 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 treatment."

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

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes in the past.

Twenty-four people died at an overcrowded church gathering within the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, whereas at least 16 folks had been killed in 2014 when a crowd obtained uncontrolled 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.