Stampede at Port Harcourt church palliative distribution to needy claims 31 lives

Death toll in a Port Harcourt church outreach programme stampede which occurred on Saturday morning has hit 31, Persecondnews reports.

The outreach programme where gift items including food were to be shared was organized by a new generation church — Kings Assembly.

The church, located in the GRA area of Port Harcourt, hosted the event at the Port Harcourt Polo Club, a bigger facility to accommodate the anticipated crowd.

Confirming the incident, the Rivers State Police Command said 31 people died during the stampede.

The acting spokesperson for the state Police Command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, said: “31 persons died. It was a stampede because a church was trying to give out palliatives.

“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.”