Children among 31 killed at church honest stampede in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A stampede Saturday at a church charity occasion in southern Nigeria left 31 folks useless and 7 injured, police advised The Related Press, a surprising growth at a program that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness said the dead included a pregnant woman and lots of kids.

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

Such occasions are widespread in Nigeria, Africa’s largest financial system, where greater than 80 million individuals reside in poverty, in accordance with authorities 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 mentioned. Someway the locked gate was broken open, creating a stampede, she said.

Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria’s National Emergency Administration Agency stated first responders have been able to evacuate the our bodies of those trampled to death and bring 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 might to emergency workers. Medical doctors and emergency employees handled some of the injured as they lay within the open area. Videos from the scene confirmed the clothing, footwear and different objects meant for the beneficiaries.

One witness who only identified himself as Daniel stated "there have been so many youngsters” among the useless. 5 of the lifeless kids had been from one mother, he told the AP, including that a pregnant lady also lost her life.

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

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

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

Nigeria has seen similar stampedes up to now.

Twenty-four individuals died at an overcrowded church gathering within the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while at the least 16 people were killed in 2014 when a crowd acquired uncontrolled during a screening for presidency jobs within the nation's capital, Abuja.

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