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Updated at 10:40 a.m. ET: The death toll from a New Year's Eve stampede at a religious gathering in the Angolan capital Luanda has risen to 16, the state-owned daily newspaper Jornal de Angola reported Wednesday.
The victims, including about 120 people who were injured, were trying to enter an overcrowded stadium for a vigil organized by a Pentecostal church, the state news agency Angop said Tuesday.
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 organized a vigil on Monday night.
Angop cited Paulo de Almeida, the deputy leader of the Angolan police, as saying appropriate security measures for the vigil had been put in place but attendance exceeded estimates.
Ivory Coast stampede survivors tell of New Year horror
He said that around 150,000 people tried to attend the event at a stadium that has capacity for 50,000.
The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God is a Pentecostal Christian church created in 1977 in Brazil, where it has over 8 million followers, according to its own website. The church says it is present in most countries of the world.
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Ferner Batalha, the church's deputy bishop for Angola, said the vigil had been overcrowded.
"Our expectation was to have 70,000 people, but that was surpassed by far," Angop cited him as saying.
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Leave a Comment:
Irony?
Sorry, I don't find children being crushed to death ironic; only sad. It must have been a horrible death for all.
Ban people.
70K were expected so they held it in a stadium for 50K? Anyone see a problem here?
Like Lemmings.........
Only if you don't believe in God.
If you do, he was being a real prick!
I can see him wanting to kill people, but people coming to worship him? He does that a lot. Church buses crashing, tornadoes flattening churches filled with the faithful seeking his protection, etc.
Oh well, what the hell.
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." ---Voltaire
Oh, I dunno, I laugh at the idea of a god all the time.
But he's not much of a comedian (actually, I'm not so sure about that), and he can't be much of a god, either, if his subjects are afraid to laugh.
Why would anyone even WANT to believe in a god like that? It's human nature to laugh at things. He certainly can't have our best interests at heart.
Viva la Resistance!!!
Seriously? At what point do people become responsible for THEIR actions? Is God responsible for it all? You don't think that as intelligent humans we might start making better choices, acting humane and gee I don't know maybe show a little respect for one another?
Why do you always assume that when people do stupid things, its God's fault? Would
you prefer God create us like robots? Or program us to act on instinct without
freedom of choice like a bird? You want God to take away our ability to make
our own decisions - good or bad? It's like blaming the makers of cars for auto
accidents caused by drunk drivers. Would you prefer auto makers only make cars
that can go 10 miles per hour so that drunk drivers won't cause any harm? You
want God to pull that cigarette out of your mouth so you don't get lung cancer?
Freedom of choice comes with a price. Freedom of choice is a great gift from
God, that includes personal responsibility for making good or bad choices in
life.
Which God? There are hundreds of them, which one are you referring to?
If there were a god, the Westboro Baptist Church and all it's congregation would be a smoking crater.
"In God We Trust", except for airport security and everything else important. So what do we trust God for? Animal welfare? Then why isn't The Humane Society named The Godly Society?
Must be God's will, so it's all good.
Like UDunnoBro said "Must be God's will, so it's all good." According to religious dictates everything is God's will, (while saying in the same breath humans have free will?????), so even the most tragic things that happen to man, aren't tragic at all, rather good! For God is good, and a compassionate God and loves those that believe in him.
Except! I don't believe in this mythology any more than I do the all powerful God "Zeus" on Mount Olympus. I don't think people being killed is good or any animals, but both happen constantly at the hand of man and the will of God, supposedly. Are we supposed to "Thank God" for the things we don't like, such as this incident; just like we would if we perceived a miracle happening, which we like?
Paul,
No. According to the Bible, not everything that happened in the Bible is God's will. Extrapolate to today, and not everything that happens is God's will.
That everything that happens is God's will is the largest myth of all.
Which God?
They should ban churches ;)
Religion is for the weak minded. This is proof alone that there is no god. What more proof does anyone need?
Hmm. I think that is exactly the kind of thought process Hitler had.
They are all followers, why do you think they get trampled?
Less Religion does not mean fewer weak minded people. Your logic, like your mind, is weak.
@SSRogers
Wrong! Hitler was obsessed by religion, he had the spear of destiny. He thought he would have supernatural powers.
Actually, Red Sailor, Hitler pandered to both the religious and non-religious. He has been quoted using both. All it truly says about him is that he was a politician who lied to everyone in order to gain the most support. There's this really cool website, The Straight Dope, that answers all kind of interesting questions, you should look into them sometime, and for more than just this question.
They were praying for a great weight to be lifted off their shoulders but unfortunately for them it was Opposite Day in Angola.
Join the Freedom From Religion Foundation FFRF, and help fight religious idiocy.
Notice that no atheists died in any chruch stampede.
Notice that a god did not save the sheep as they were being crushed.
Stupid sheep. Get a clue. Donate your $$ to the Ocean Conservancy, not to the invisible sky fairy.
If you put money on a collection plate, you are buying a new Benz for some pedophile.
Religious people are the worst haters of all time, and the biggest fools.
Squish. RIP.
I was expecting the article to reveal the cause of the stampede. Apparently, just being in a crowded place is enough to send people mindlessly scurrying.
Also, why didn't the police simply deny access after the stadium reached its capacity? These deaths could have been avoided with simple planning.
"Also, why didn't the police simply deny access after the stadium reached its capacity? These deaths could have been avoided with simple planning."
I thought the same thing Koatz!
I think you just answered your own question. The place is full, the police close the entrances. The people outside still want to get in. Word can't spread, because of the crowd noise, that the entrances are closed. People at the back start pushing forward, still trying to get in. People at the front start pushing back, or are shoved up against the gates. The gates can't hold. 100,000 people start to flood into an already-full stadium. Mass chaos.
Then again, denying 20,000 people their right to commune with God as they see fit could have also caused a stampede.
Sometimes I think the atheists preach more that the evangelicals. Both get on my nerves and I wish they would both just shut up and drop dead.
God SMASH!
RIP fellow humans! It is not your fault that we are so weak minded as a species that we are so easily duped into false ideologies and religions. What was real is the fact that I am sure this could have been prevented. We don't need a deity to figure this out. Just some plain common sense to prevent these things from happening again, but it will.:( Remember the Hillsborough football disaster.
Add "duped by politicians and politics". Don't think that all ignorance is founded in religion, otherwise who is the ignorant one? Remember everyone complaining about what a lousy job the politicians were doing, yet how many ended up back into the very same office?
This was a case of poor planning, despite what you believe in or if you are religious or not.
In a limited capacity location, steps should have been made to ensure only a set quantity of people entered (such as buying tickets, or having a set number of free tickets for each meeting house used for church services given out on a first come first served basis or using a lottery style drawing of tickets if it was in such high popularity.). This coupled with enough timely notice that only ticket holders can get in would have ensured those without a ticket wouldn't have shown up.
This wasn't caused by God or a lack of God, this was caused by MAN, and he failed, as he typically does.
In the United States we value human life very highly and put laws in place to protect life. If someone fails to protect lives on their property, he hold them financially liable. This holds them to a very high standard, perhaps the highest in the world. No other country allows the court systems to pay 20 million dollars for the loss of a single human life. Remember that when you travel outside of the United States if you are an American.All of you people that spit out things like "steps should have been taken" sure they should have been, but the reason things are so inexpensive in other countries is that they don't have all these "steps" and they don't have all of this litigation. Take care of yourself overseas and don't get in the front of the lines at large gatherings. Even peaceful gatherings and events can turn into riots at the drop of a hat.
In America "we value human life very highly..." unless, of course, you are one of the more than 50 MILLION babies aborted SINCE 1973, but since many of those posting think there is no God, then no harm no foul. Sadly, ugly things happen on this planet because evil, like God, exist. Stampedes like this happen in America, but rather than frantically getting into an arena to hear the Word preached, many die here the day after giving Thanks in a frantic scramble for video game systems. Yeah, here human lives are worth a lot, at least $500. You are correct in that the families of people trampled in Walmart entrances have sued and won huge wrongful death suits even though their own family members' greed cost them their lives. So sad no matter where it happens.
The intent was to fleece all of them in one way or another, so limiting the target group isn't likely a high priority. This has been the way ever since man "organized" religion and began exporting varieties of it to "help" others.
ban church
Sorry, but no event is worth a single life.
No need to apologize, but you're wrong.
Have you ever seen the Stones live?
Well -god, I saw them when they were still good, unfortunately, at the present time, they aren't worth $10...unless you are going for the nostalgia value.
Nope, not a fan. But still not worth a life.
Of course, I would ask, if they're that bad, why were you there?
This is not a third-world country event. It has happens all over the world. It happens in the U.S., too.
Ban church,stadium's, mass gathering's, and walking. they kill people!
Seriously? When do people start becoming responsible for THEIR actions? Is God to blame for everything? As an 'intelligent' species it seem to me that a lot of stupid @!$%# happens!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SSRogers - yes, the people were stupid...but if there is a "God", wouldn't you think he'd be looking over people who are showing up at an event worshipping him???? He, obviously, didn't care.
Sleepinsadie,
By definition, humans cannot comprehend the mind of a deity.
Therefore, we are unable to understand God or his actions.
That's logic, and not religion.
Are you really going to use 'logic' in trying to explain a 'God'...hahahahhaha
Do you mean logic like - how a virgin got pregnant? how every species was put on an ark? a burning bush? the parting of a sea?
I could go on and on...sorry, but logic for a belief in a 'God' doesn't really go together, that's why the term 'faith' is used, because logic seems to show there isn't 1, let alone the thousands throughout time.
Sadie, you miss my point entirely. My point is that humans cannot explain a "god." Put the bong down and read my explication. (and yes, the word is "explication," and not "explanation")
I did not say logic proves existence of a God, but that the fundamental premise of a deity (you can look up "deity" for yourself for the definition) is that man cannot understand it fully.
The logical argument I offered to you is about interpretations of God, not whether He exists. Maybe if you read it again more slowly you might be able to comprehend the logic. Otherwise, have a happy new year and don't work too hard cleaning out those hotel rooms after guests have checked out.
Further proof that religion kills. For the safety of the masses, Ban religion now!
If you do a Google search and look at Wikipedia concerning this "church/religion", this is what you find:
According to the Brazilian press, a judge has accepted prosecutors' claims that the founder of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and nine other leaders took advantage of their position to commit fraud against the church and its followers. Prosecutors accuse the leader of the church, Bishop Edir Macedo, and nine other church leaders of laundering more than US$2 billion in donations from 2001 to 2009. It is believed through federal government reports that the money that is given by the followers is gathered, used and placed in private banks in both New York (via Invest Holding, a private lending bank) and London. The money is then sent through Cable Invest, a private bank located in the Cayman Islands. Finally it is sent to Brazil though Brazilian lending companies "Cremo" and "Unimetro", lender banks of which then are in charge to split the money to Rede Record (UCKG owned television network) executives who then supply more money to UCKG officials.[27] In October 20, 2010 the São Paulo Justice Court (TJ-SP), made null all accusations made by the Public Prosecuters against the UCKG[28]
We should ban the Pentecostals!!! Killers everyone of them.
The reality is that you must take responsibility for your actions. 100%. You do something stupid well there are consequences for doing something stupid. Whether there is a supreme anything means nothing. You still have to get up in the morning and put those pants on one leg at a time and no supreme anything will change that. These poor people were led astray by not being instructed in personal responsibility. Unfortunately, I have seen it too often in this world. Education, teaching work ethics and personal responsibilty is what makes a good working society and not believing some magic tricks or hocus pocus done by some loud mouth preacher.
A stampede...really...these are humans...not animals...