Twenty people, many of them women and children , were trampled to death on Monday in a stampede for food and money for refugees in southeast Niger , sources said .
“ We have a provisional toll of 20 dead, ” a medical source said . Aid workers confirmed the account and said about 10 people had been injured .
The accident occurred at a culture centre in Diffa, the main town of a region of that name that abuts Nigeria and Chad .
The region has been repeatedly hit by attacks by Nigeria ’ s Boko Haram jihadist group since 2015 .
It hosts 119 , 000 Nigerian refugees , 109 , 000 internally -displaced people , and 30, 000 Nigeriens who have come home from Nigeria because of the instability in its northeast, according to UN figures released October .
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The aid being distributed had been given by Babagana Umara Zulum , the governor of Borno state in northeast Nigeria , a Nigerian official told AFP.
He had come to the region to visit the camps for refugees and the displaced , and had already left the town when the stampede occurred .
“ They were distributing food and money — 5 , 000 naira ( $ 13. 75 , 12. 7 euros ) per person , ” a local resident told AFP . The naira is Nigeria ’ s national currency .
“ Thousands of people, most of them refugees , heard about the handout and left the camps, sometimes travelling up to 100 kilometres ( 60 miles ) to get to Diffa , ” the source said .
Another resident said: “ Even ordinary inhabitants of Diffa rushed there in the hope of getting the handout . ”
“ Many women trampled their child to death ” in the rush , a medical source said .
Source:- AFP
FP
