Eight die in stampede at Burundi preacher's rally
Eight worshippers died and nine were injured in a stampede after an evangelical gathering in Bujumbura, Burundi, police said.
At least eight people were killed in a stampede after an evangelical gathering in Burundi's largest city of Bujumbura, police said Sunday.
Thousands had attended a sermon by popular Burundian preacher Chris Ndikumana, whose YouTube channel has more than one million subscribers.
"There were so many people and everyone wanted to leave at the same time" after the gathering, a teacher at the Kamenge Technical School, where the event was held, told AFP.
"It was late at night. There was a crush and people were trampled."
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Police said eight worshippers were killed and nine others injured. Organisers have not publicly commented on the incident.
Evangelical churches have grown rapidly across Africa and several large religious gatherings have ended in deadly stampedes in recent years.
In neighbouring Tanzania, at least 20 people died in 2020 after crowds surged to reach "holy oil" distributed by a preacher.
In 2022, at least 29 people, including 11 children, were killed in a crush in Liberia after thieves targeted worshippers leaving a large evangelical gathering.
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