The tragic stampede during an almsgiving program in Bauchi state over the weekend has claimed seven victims, police authorities in the state confirm, with three additional women reported dead.
The stampede occurred at the Shafa holdings company PLC headquarters along the popular Jos Road, during the distribution of the Zakaat items by a Bauchi-based philanthropist.
The distribution was said to have begun smoothly, with beneficiaries mostly women called in groups to receive items, until restlessness among others led to a struggle to gain access to the premises.
The spokesman of the state police command, SP Ahmed Wakili, in an interview with journalists on Monday disclosed that two more women died at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa university teaching hospital (ATBUTH) hospital, adding that the third woman died at home.
He gave the names of the casualties as Aisha Usman, aged 13; Sahura Abubakar 55; Aisha Ibrahim Abubakar, 43; and Khadija Isah, aged 8.
The rest are Maryam Suleiman, aged 20, Maryam Shaibu, 16, and Hassana Saidu, aged 53.
