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Two people have died, and many others sustained varying degrees of injuries during the “Christ the King Sunday” procession at Christ The King Catholic (CKC) Church in Aba, Abia State. The procession, celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, marks Jesus Christ’s messianic kingship and sovereign rule over all creation.
According to reports, the procession organized by the Catholic Diocese of Aba saw a large crowd from urban parishes within the city gather at the CKC premises along Asa Road. The crowd reportedly overflowed into the gate area, causing congestion.
Tragedy struck when two aged women from the Holy Cross Parish Aba slumped inside the premises, possibly due to suffocation from the overwhelming crowd. They were rushed to a nearby hospital, where they were pronounced dead. Several children who also slumped during the procession were taken to a nearby private hospital for treatment.
Modestus Kalu, a Catholic faithful, stated that while the Catholic Diocese of Aba has experienced incidents of people slumping during processions in the past, this was the first time fatalities occurred. He urged the diocese to find ways to manage the crowd at future “Christ The King Processions” to prevent such incidents from happening again.
“The crowd overflowed. The environment and the atmosphere were extremely unfriendly. Many people have serious health conditions. The Catholic Church, as one of the most advanced churches, should have known better and prepared for such happenings,” Kalu said. “Nobody should mock the church over this incident, but nobody also deserves to die such an avoidable death. I pray to God to grant their soul eternal rest and give their family the fortitude to bear this loss.”
Attempts to reach the Bishop of Aba Catholic Diocese, Prof. Augustine Echema, for comment were unsuccessful. However, a senior leader of the church’s laity confirmed that this was the first such incident and that efforts were being made to reach out to the victims’ families.
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