Thirty-one persons died during a stampede at the venue of an outreach programme put together by a church in Port Harcourt on Saturday morning, the Rivers State Police Command has confirmed.
This was confirmed by the Acting Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, who said the church had organised the outreach to give out palliatives to the underprivileged in society before the unexpected occurred.
The church, Kings Assembly, was said to have invited members of the public to participate in the event where gift items and food were promised to be shared to congregants.
Kings Assembly, located in the GRA area of the city, organised the “Shop for Free” event designed to help the less privileged in society, but the crowd overstretched the capacity of the venue, leading to a stamped at the Polo Club in Port Harcourt, where the event was scheduled to hold.
While the event was set to start at 9 am on Saturday, the people started arriving as early as Friday night and early Saturday morning.
“It is 31 persons that died. It was a stampede because a church was trying to give out palliatives,” the PRO, a Superintendent of Police, said.
“They were about to start the event by 9am or so. But some persons went there and broke into the place and went inside.
“So people started rushing in and there was a stampede.
“From the information we have, the church was trying to gift items and food to assist the underprivileged.
“Meanwhile, investigation has commenced to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of the incident,” Iringe-Koko, said.
