Eight individuals lost their lives and nine others were injured in a crush at an evangelical gathering in Bujumbura, Burundi’s largest city.
The tragic incident occurred on Saturday at a school where prominent Burundian preacher Chris Ndikumana was speaking, drawing a crowd of thousands.
Eyewitnesses and police reported that a wall at the exit gate collapsed as worshippers jostled to leave after the service ended late at night, resulting in several people being trampled.
Neither Ndikumana nor the event organizers have publicly commented on the incident.
“There were so many people, and everyone wanted to leave at the same time,” a teacher told AFP.
“It was late at night,” the teacher from the Senior Technical School of Kamenge, the venue of the gathering, added.
In a statement, police said King Khalid Hospital in Bujumbura recorded six deaths—five females and one male—with four others receiving treatment there; two additional deaths were confirmed at a military hospital where five patients were treated.
Police reported that two individuals sustained physical injuries, while the others showed no external trauma, indicating suffocation as the primary cause of death and injury.
Ndikumana, whose YouTube channel has over one million subscribers, leads the Kanguka (Wake up) ministry and regularly draws large crowds for services across several African countries.
Some of his followers believe he can cure diseases through prayer.
Crushes during religious events are not uncommon on the continent; in 2020, at least 20 people died in neighboring Tanzania during an outdoor service as attendees surged forward to be anointed with blessed oil.
In 2022, 31 people died in Port Harcourt, Nigeria’s southern city, when a church distributed food to the poor, some of whom had waited overnight.
The same year, at least 29 people, including 11 children, were killed in a crush in Liberia after thieves targeted worshippers leaving a large evangelical gathering.
Additional reporting by Bernard Bankukira.
