11 children among dozens killed in stampede at religious ceremony in Liberia

At least 29 people in Liberia, including 11 children and a pregnant woman, have died in a stampede of worshippers at a Christian ceremony in a densely populated area of the capital, Monrovia, officials said Thursday.

The stampede erupted when a gang of thugs armed with knives attacked some of the hundreds attending the ceremony at about 9 p.m. on Wednesday night, police spokesman Moses Carter told The Associated Press. One person has been arrested, he said.

Carter told AFP the death toll was provisional and "may increase" because a number of people were in critical condition.

The bodies have been taken to the morgue of Redemption Hospital, close to where the incident occurred in a beach area called New Kru Town.

Street gangs have become an increasing problem in Monrovia and other Liberian cities in recent years, according to residents.

Pastor Abraham Kromah, a popular preacher, staged the two-day prayer event in New Kru Town and attracted large crowds, according to images circulating on social media.

Eye witness Emmanuel Gray, 26, told AFP he heard "heavy noise" towards the end of the event, and saw several dead bodies.

A stampede at a similar prayer event in the center of Liberia in November 2021 killed two infants, and hospitalized several others, according to local media.

Liberia, Africa's oldest republic, is an impoverished country that is still recovering after back-to-back civil wars between 1989-2003, which killed about 250,000 people.

It was also ravaged by the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic.

According to the World Bank, 44 percent of Liberia's population lives on less than $2 a day.

The UN's Human Development Index, a barometer of prosperity, ranks Liberia 175th out of 189 countries and territories.

AFP contributed to this report.