Youngsters among 31 killed at church fair stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity occasion in southern Nigeria left 31 folks useless and seven injured, police advised The Related Press, a stunning improvement at a program that aimed to supply hope to the needy. One witness said the dead included a pregnant lady and plenty of children.

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

Such events are common in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economic system, the place greater than 80 million individuals dwell in poverty, in response to authorities statistics.

Saturday’s charity program was supposed to start at 9 a.m. but dozens arrived as early as 5 a.m. to safe their place in line, Iringe-Koko said. Someway the locked gate was broken open, creating a stampede, she stated.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Administration Agency said first responders were in a position to evacuate the bodies of these trampled to death and produce them to the morgue. Safety forces cordoned off the area.

Dozens of residents later thronged the scene, mourning the dead and offering any help they might to emergency employees. Doctors and emergency employees handled some of the injured as they lay in the open discipline. Videos from the scene showed the clothing, shoes and different items meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel mentioned "there were so many children” among the many dead. 5 of the dead kids were from one mother, he informed the AP, including that a pregnant girl also lost her life.

Some church members were attacked and injured by relations of the victims after the stampede, according to witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to comment on the scenario.

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

The “Shop for Free” occasion 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, while a minimum of 16 people were killed in 2014 when a crowd bought uncontrolled during a screening for government jobs in the nation's capital, Abuja.

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