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Dhaka     Thursday   28 March 2024

31 killed in stampede at church event in Nigeria

News Desk || risingbd.com

Published: 22:42, 28 May 2022  
31 killed in stampede at church event in Nigeria

At least 31 people have been killed during a stampede at a church charity event in southern Nigeria’s Port Harcourt city, according to the police.

Hundreds of people who had turned up to receive food at the event early on Saturday broke through a gate, causing the stampede, Grace Iringe-Koko, police spokesperson for Rivers state, of which Port Harcourt is the capital, said.

Many of the people queued from Friday to gain access to the Port Harcourt Polo Club – the venue of the annual “Shop for Free” charity programme organised by the Kings Assembly pentecostal church.

“People were there earlier and some got impatient and started rushing, which led to stampeding. The police are on the ground monitoring the situation while the investigation is ongoing,” Iringe-Koko told Reuters.

The police spokesperson said seven others were injured but are “responding to treatment” in the wake of the stampede at the event that organisers said was aimed to “offer hope” to the needy.

The police spokesperson said an investigation has been launched and a report would be released in due course. _Agencies

Dhaka/AKA