Two persons reportedly died, while many others sustained different degrees of injuries, during a procession at Christ The King Catholic, CKC, Church, Aba, in Abia state.
The procession, titled,” Christ the King Sunday”, is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, as a feast to mark Jesus Christ’s messianic kingship and sovereign rule over all creation.
Vanguard gathered that the procession organized by the Catholic Diocese of Aba, saw the urban parishes within the City throng the CKC premises along Asa Road.
The procession reportedly recorded a mammoth crowd which overflew into the gate area.
It was gathered that trouble ensued during the event when two aged women slumped inside the premises and were rushed to a nearby hospital where they reportedly died.
Vanguard gathered that the two aged women, who were of the Holy Cross Parish Aba, may have suffered from suffocation because of the overflowing crowd.
Many children, who also slumped at the CKC during the procession, were rushed to a nearby private hospital.
A catholic faithful, Modestus Kalu, stated that the Catholic Diocese of Aba have been having issues of people slumping during processions but that the Sunday experience was the first time people died.
He urged the Catholic Diocese of Aba to find a way to decongest the population of faithful attending the “Christ The King Procession’ to avert future occurrences.
He said; “The crowd overflowed. The environment and the atmosphere were extremely unfriendly. Many people have serious health conditions. The Catholic Church, as one of the most advanced churches, should have known better and prepared for such happenings.
“Nobody should mock the church over this incident, but nobody also deserves to die such an avoidable death. I pray to God to grant their soul eternal rest and give their family the fortitude to bear this loss.”
Efforts to speak with the Bishop of Aba Catholic Diocese, Prof. Augustine Echema, were unsuccessful, as the security men at the CKC gate, told Vanguard that he was not on seat.
However, a senior leader of the church’s laity told Vanguard that the experience was the first and that efforts are on to meet the victim’s families.
