(Eagle News Sevice, Africa Bureau) —Zambia’s United Party for National Development leader Hakainde Hichilema said he is attributing the stampede that occurred at the Olympic Youth Development Center on Monday morning (March 6) to high levels of poverty and hunger in the country.
Hichilema said that what happened at the OYDC was a clear indication of the extreme hunger suffered by the Zambian people.
“It is with a heavy heart that we wish to convey a message of condolences to the 8 families whose brothers and sisters died in a stampede this morning at Olympic Youth Development Center in Lusaka. Our sincere condolences go to them and we call on the nation to put the families in prayer,” Mr Hichilema said.
The stampede last March 6 claimed eight lives as thousands of people lined up for free food to be distributed by volunteers from a church group.
According to eyewitnesses, the stampede was reportedly caused by impatient residents who did not have coupons but wanted to gain entry into the sports complex.
The food parcels included a 10 kilogram bag of mealie-meal.
The church had reportedly prepared food hampers for about 35,000 people, mostly from the slums of the city but more people turned up to receive the free food.
The government has since expressed sadness over the loss of lives.
In Lusaka, Liseli Mapeto, Director of Lesedi Seven, which was the group which managed the event, said the food distribution activity would still push through.
“It’s not cancelled but it has just been postponed for us to go back and reflect. We also want to thank the police commissioner, and the police and the security officers and the community, especially our beneficiaries, for honoring us with their time this morning. Some, they woke up as early as 4am to to come and receive something and obviously they went back without getting anything,” he said.
Lesedi Seven was the company contacted by the Church of Christ to organize the food distribution activity in the Zambian capital of Lusaka. The Church of Christ had previously conducted such massive food distribution activities in South Africa, Kenya, and Lesotho.
Such activities had been always coordinated with the governments of those countries.
The organizers had also expressed their sincere condolences to the families of the victims, and vowed to help them as well as those injured in the unfortunate event.
They said that they will continue to help their fellow men globally, especially in Zambia where food prices had risen steeply
(with reports from Agence France Press and Xinhua)