A stampede at a church charity event in southern Nigeria left 31 dead and seven injured on Saturday, a shocking news of a program that organizers say was intended to “offer hope” to those in need.
The stampede on the program organized by the Pentecostal Church of the Assembly of Kings in Rivers State involved many people seeking help, according to police spokeswoman Grace Iringe-Koko.
Many of the victims attended an annual charity program “Shop for Free” organized by the church. These 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 program was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., but dozens arrived at 5 a.m. to secure their place in the queue, Iringe-Koko said. Somehow they broke down the closed door, he said, adding that the seven injured were “responding to treatment.”
Videos from the scene showed clothing, shoes and other items intended for the beneficiaries. Dozens of neighbors later gathered at the scene, mourning the dead and offering all the help they could to emergency workers. Doctors and emergency workers cared for the injured while they were lying in the open field.
A witness who only identified himself as Daniel said “there were so many children” among the dead. Five of the dead children were from a mother, she told the AP, adding that a pregnant woman also lost her life.
Some church members were attacked and injured by relatives of the victims after the stampede, according to witness Christopher Eze. The church declined to comment on the situation.
The Shop for Free event was suspended while authorities investigated how the stampede occurred.
Nigeria has seen similar stampede in the past. Twenty-four people were killed in a church rally in the southeastern state of Anambra in 2013, while at least 16 people were killed in 2014 when a mob broke out during a job selection in the country’s capital, Abuja.