13 people including children die in stampedes in Nigeria at Christmas charity events

ABUJA, Nigeria — At least 13 people, including four children, were killed in two separate stampedes in Nigeria as large crowds gathered to collect food and clothing items distributed at annual Christmas events, the police said Saturday. The two accidents came days after another such stampede in Africa’s most populous country, amid a growing trend by local organizations, churches and individuals to organize charity events ahead of Christmas, as the country struggles with the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. Ten people were killed in the first stampede in the early hours at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Maitama, an upmarket part of the capital, Abuja, police spokesman Josephine Adeh said in a statement, adding that more than 1,000 people have been evacuated from the church. Three people died in a similar crush later in the southeastern Anambra state’s Okija town at a charity event organized by a philanthropist, the state police said.