BAUCHI: Death toll from zakaat stampede rises to 8

The death toll of those who died during a stampade at the venue of the distribution of Zakaat by a Bauchi based philanthropist, AYM Shafa has risen to eight following the death of another victim Monday afternoon.

The confirmation was made when Management of Abdulmumini Foundation, the organisation responsible for the distribution of Zakaat went round homes of the victims who lost their lives in the unfortunate stampade that occurred on Sunday.

The Foundation led by the Chairman, Zakaat Distribution, Prof Ahmad Muhammad Set’le went round houses of those who lost their lives during the incident to condole with them as well as share with them, the moment of grief.

Ahmed Mohammed said that the event is an annual thing with the aim of assisting the poor in the society.

He described the stampade as most unfortunate because it was not planned for saying that, “We did not bargain for what we saw. The people that trooped out were not invited, they just heard about the distribution and came around.”

He added that, “We had security coverage, people who were to ensure a hitch-free exercise including the Police, but because of the large crowd of people, they were not able to control them, the crowd was just too much.”

READ ALSO: BAUCHI: Four women die during stampede for zakaat

According to him, “In an effort to open the gate where we normally assemble people before the distribution, there were struggles to get to the front of the queue, to be the number one while others were sitting on the gate. So, those that were struggling to get to the front were trampled upon.”

Ahmed Mohammed further said that, “Unfortunately, many of them became unconscious, rushed to the hospital (ATBUTH) where some of them were later confirmed dead. I, myself, I was so lucky not to be among them because I was pressed against the wall of the building, the iron bars of the gate really took a toll on my body, if you had seen me then, you will not believe.”

He stressed that the number of death remains eight and not more than that as reported in some section of the media appealing for fact checking before going to press in order not to mislead people or exacerbate the situation.

He also dismissed insinuations that the exercise was poorly organised as same thing happened in the previous year saying, “That’s not true, I have been around all years, it is an annual event and nothing bad happened last year. Whoever said that, should prove it, as far as I know, as the Chairman of the Distribution Committee, we did not receive any such complaint last year.”

Explaining further, he said that, “We had gone far with the distribution for about two hours when we had the serious push by the people forcing us to stop the exercise because at that time, there was one death, a development which actually helped to minimise the casualty.”

Suleimanu Adamu Duguri lost a daughter in the stampade, 20 years old Maryam.

According to him,”She would have been married anytime before sallah as the to-be husband had concluded all arrangements for the ceremony but Allah wished it as it happened. He was here and we have pacified him to take heart.”

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