Black Saturday: 31 dead in Port Harcourt Church stampede over palliatives

No fewer than 31 persons have been confirmed dead in a stampede at a programme organised by a Pentecostal church, in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The Spokesperson of the Rivers State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the casualty figure.
She said, “It is 31 persons that 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”.
It was gathered that the Church, identified as ‘Kings Assembly’ is located in the GRA area of Port Harcourt but was to hold its programme at Polo Club in the city to accommodate the usually large congregation.