Stampede at church fair in Nigeria kills 31, several injured
India Today
A stampede in Nigeria killed 31 people and seven injured. The incident took place at a church charity event in the southern part of the country. The programme was to offer hope to the needy.
A stampede at a church charity event in southern Nigeria on Saturday left 31 people dead and seven injured, police told The Associated Press, a shocking development at a programme that aimed to offer hope to the needy. One witness said the dead included a pregnant woman and many children.
The stampede at the event organised by the Kings Assembly Pentecostal church in Rivers state involved people who came to the church's annual “Shop for Free” charity programme, according to Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokeswoman.
Such events are common in Nigeria, Africa's largest economy, where more than 80 million people live in poverty, according to government statistics.
Saturday's charity programme was supposed to begin at 9 am but dozens arrived as early as 5 am to secure their place in line, Iringe-Koko said. Somehow the locked gate was broken open, creating a stampede, she said.
Godwin Tepikor from Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency said first responders were able to evacuate the 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 could to emergency workers. Doctors and emergency workers treated some of the injured as they lay in the open field. Videos from the scene showed the clothing, shoes and other items meant for the beneficiaries.
One witness who only identified himself as Daniel said "there were so many children” among the dead. Five of the dead children were from one mother, he told the AP, adding that a pregnant woman also lost her life.
