Vunderkind
Social Member
You know that incident that happened on Saturday about a stampede a few moments after a prayer session in Anambra? There was a stampede at the Holy Ghost Adoration Centre, Uke, in the Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra State that led to the loss of more than 30 lives. If you missed the news, you can read it here.
The Catholic Church has released a statement about the stampede though, and admits that the stampede did happen, and that it resulted in injuries and loss of lives.
The church usually holds its vigils on the first Friday of a new month. However, the crowd that arrived at the centre on that day was unexpected (on the first of November, 2013), and the Catholic Church suggests that the Solemnity of All Saints may have triggered the population ‘explosion’. Apart from the unexpected large crowd, the vigil was reported to have begun and ended normally.
The stampede, according to the statement by the church, was caused by someone in the crowd who raised a false alarm along a narrow road that leads out of town. The already-large crowd, reacting to the false alarm, made a rush in that narrow space, and that resulted in the stampede as witnessed on that sad day.
Most Rev. Valerian Okeke, Archbishop of Onitsha, according to the statement is still saddened by the incident and the Catholic Church appreciates the outpouring of concern and support from well-wishers. The Archbishop has been to visit the dead in the morgue and also the injured in the hospitals.
Meanwhile, the church promises that full investigations into the matter are ongoing and that more efforts are underway to ensure the protection of the lives of worshippers at the centre.
Source: Oodera.com
The Catholic Church has released a statement about the stampede though, and admits that the stampede did happen, and that it resulted in injuries and loss of lives.
The church usually holds its vigils on the first Friday of a new month. However, the crowd that arrived at the centre on that day was unexpected (on the first of November, 2013), and the Catholic Church suggests that the Solemnity of All Saints may have triggered the population ‘explosion’. Apart from the unexpected large crowd, the vigil was reported to have begun and ended normally.
The stampede, according to the statement by the church, was caused by someone in the crowd who raised a false alarm along a narrow road that leads out of town. The already-large crowd, reacting to the false alarm, made a rush in that narrow space, and that resulted in the stampede as witnessed on that sad day.
Most Rev. Valerian Okeke, Archbishop of Onitsha, according to the statement is still saddened by the incident and the Catholic Church appreciates the outpouring of concern and support from well-wishers. The Archbishop has been to visit the dead in the morgue and also the injured in the hospitals.
Meanwhile, the church promises that full investigations into the matter are ongoing and that more efforts are underway to ensure the protection of the lives of worshippers at the centre.
Source: Oodera.com