At least 30 people, including 11 children and a pregnant woman, died last Wednesday, after a stampede at a Pentecostal church meeting in Liberia's capital, Monrovia. An unknown number of people are still injured, some critically. An armed group, trying to steal the offering and rob the attendees, stormed an all-night outdoor worship event with thousands of people.

The worship event was organized by a popular pastor known as Apostle Abraham Kromah, who pastors the World of Life Outreach International; he is also a radio broadcaster.

President George Weah declared an official three-day national period of mourning, during which the flag was flown at half-mast across the country.

The Connections podcast: real life, real faith

This is not the first time a deadly stampede has caused a loss of lives in Liberia. A similar tragedy last November resulted in the death of two babies, while several others were hospitalized.

An attempted robbery

Thousands of people had attended an all-night outdoor worship event at a soccer field on the outskirts of the capital's New Kru Town neighbourhood when the incident took place.

According to local police, the stampede occurred after a street gang entered the worship area at the end of the collection of offerings.

Witnesses reported that they were armed and wanted to rob the offerings and the attendees, threatening them with their weapons.

When the participants saw the group of men with machetes and other weapons heading towards them, there was a panic reaction that ended in a human stampede.

Liberia, which has around 5 million inhabitants, suffered two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, and was also one of the three countries worst affected by the 2014 Ebola epidemic, which killed 4,800 people in the country.

George Weah, a well-known former football player, succeeded President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2011, after winning the 2017 elections.

---

This story originally appeared at Evangelical Focus and is republished here with permission.