More than 50 feared dead in Kwara Sallah tragedy

More than 50 people were feared dead while scores
were reportedly injured on Wednesday night
following a stampede near the Ilofa residence
of a former Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki. Unconfirmed reports indicated that no fewer
than 50 people were feared dead as a result of
the stampede. The incident happened when some members
of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state
and some other hangers-on were receiving
yearly Sallah gifts from the Sarakis and other
philantropists at the venue popularly called PDP
Charity House. An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said
the victims were allegedly lumped into
ambulances and rushed to a nearby hospital. He said that there were heavy casualties. Kwara State PDP Publicity Secretary, Alhaji
Mas’ud Adebimpe, confirmed the stampede
later in a statement. He, however, said only four PDP members died
while many were injured. Adebimpe said, "The Peoples Democratic Party
Kwara State chapter held its annual Sallah
celebration at PDP Charity House where many
party faithful were in attendance. "The event which is an annual activity of the
party went on smoothly until the unfortunate
incident of a stampede, which led to some
people fainting. They were immediately rushed
to a hospital few blocks away from the venue. "While some are currently responding
positively to treatment, we however regret to
announce that we lost four of our party
members to the unfortunate development. "Our prayers go out to the families of the
deceased and we pray for the quick recovery of
those that are responding fast to treatment,"
Adebimpe said. It will be recalled that similar cases of
stampede had occurred in the past at the
Mandate House,Ilorin where scores of people
died and many were injured.