3 Die During South African Church Stampede

The South African Police Service (SAPS) is investigating the death of three female congregants at Shepherd Bushiri’s Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church in Pretoria on Friday night.

A police delegation led by SAPS Tshwane West policing cluster commander Maj-Gen Daniel Mthombeni visited the Pretoria Showgrounds – where the church is situated – on Saturday afternoon, shortly after learning about the alleged stampede by congregants which is said to have caused the trio’s death.

“According to them, [ECG] when the rain started [on Friday evening] the congregation started to push each other and a stampede occurred, unfortunately leading to three deaths and nine injuries,” Pretoria police spokeswoman Captain Augustinah Selepe told the African News Agency.

She said the three victims had not yet been identified. The exact cause of the incident was yet to be ascertained.

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