The number of people killed in a stampede during a Christmas charity event in Nigeria has risen from 13 to 32, the police said on Sunday. The victims, including at least four children, collapsed during the stampede as people became desperate for food while the country grappled with its worst livelihood crisis in a generation.
The dead include 22 people in Okija town in southeastern Anambra state, where a charity organized a food distribution on Saturday, local police spokesman Tochukwu Ikenga said. Another 10 people died in a similar charity event organized by the church in the capital, Abuja.
Just days after another stampede killed 35 children, the police said they were investigating the two incidents.
Africa’s most populous country is seeing a growing trend for local organizations, churches and individuals to organize charity events ahead of Christmas to ease the financial hardship caused by the cost-of-living crisis.
Eyewitnesses said there was a stampede in Abuja Associated Press There was a rush of people at one of the gates of the church, with dozens trying to enter the premises at 4am, hours before the gift items were to be distributed. Some of them, including the elderly, waited all night to get food, said Loveth Inyang, who rescued a child from the cross.
The stampedes prompted growing calls for authorities to implement security measures in such incidents. The Nigerian police have also ordered the organizers to obtain prior permission.
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