African: Eleven die in stampede after church service in Zimbabwean stadium

Eleven people have been killed and dozens injured in a stampede at a stadium in Zimbabwe, as thousands of people at a church service tried to leave through the same exit, police said.

About 30,000 people packed into a stadium in Kwekwe, 130 miles (213km) west of Harare, on Thursday evening to listen to Walter Magaya, a pastor who draws huge crowds, Senior Assistant 

Commissioner Shadreck Mubaiwa told Reuters on Friday.

When the service ended the congregation rushed towards a single exit, with the resulting stampede killing four people on the spot. Another seven were pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

“Police tried to rescue people but they were overwhelmed by the crowds. It is unfortunate that people wanted to rush out, which made it difficult to contain the situation,” Mubaiwa said.

Mubaiwa said police were still investigating the cause of the stampede. Some people who said they had been at the service accused police and local government officials of opening only one exit.

Magaya was quoted by the online version of the state-owned Herald newspaper as saying that although the incident occurred after he left, he would take responsibility.

“This was our event and as a church we have to take the blame for the tragedy,” he was quoted as saying. “It is still too early to say what caused the stampede but the fact that the stampede took place at the venue means that part of our system failed to function.”

Zimbabwe, hit by economic turmoil in recent years, has seen a rise in the number of “prosperity gospel” pastors, who preach that faith in Jesus can lift people out of poverty.

In September a building collapsed at a church compound in Nigeria run by TB Joshua, a popular preacher, killing 116 people, 81 of whom were South Africans.