At least 31 people have died and seven more have been injured as a result of a human stampede during a charity event in southern Nigeria, police sources have confirmed.
The event had been organized by the Kings Assembly church in the town of Port Harcourt, in the state of Rivers, where dozens of disadvantaged people from the area gathered.
At one point and for reasons still under investigation, a stampede occurred that ended up crushing dozens of those gathered, as explained by the acting spokeswoman for the state Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, in comments collected by the Nigerian newspaper Punch.
“According to the information we have, the church was trying to give away items and food to help the underprivileged. People started running in and there was a stampede,” Iringe-Koko said. “We have started an investigation to determine the immediate causes of the incident,” she added.
