Post date: Jan 02, 2013 8:50:45 PM
Four children are among those killed in the stadium that was filled beyond its 70,000 capacity.
LUANDA, ANGOLA (DECEMBER 31, 2012) (TPA) - Thirteen people were crushed to death and dozens injured in the Angolan capital Luanda as they tried to enter an overcrowded stadium for a vigil organised by a Pentecostal church, Angolan channel TPA reported on Tuesday (January 1).
According to TPA 65 were injured in the crush.State news agency Angop cited an emergency services spokesman as saying the victims, including four children, were crushed at the gates of the Cidadela Desportiva stadium, where the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (IURD) organised a vigil on Monday (December 31) night.
IURD is a Pentecostal Christian church created in 1977 in Brazil, where it has over 8 million followers, according to its own website. IURD says it is present in most countries of the world.
Ferner Batalha, IURD's deputy bishop for Angola, said the vigil had been overcrowded.