A devastating crowd crush at a massive evangelical religious gathering in Bujumbura, Burundi’s most populous city, has left eight people dead and nine others injured, according to local police and witness accounts. The tragedy unfolded on Saturday night at the Senior Technical School of Kamenge, where thousands of worshippers had gathered to hear a sermon from well-known Burundian preacher Chris Ndikumana, whose charismatic ministry draws massive crowds across multiple African nations.
As the religious service concluded late in the evening, the large crowd surged toward the venue’s exit simultaneously. Eyewitnesses and law enforcement confirm that the external wall lining the exit collapsed under the pressure of the pushing crowd, triggering a chaotic stampede that left multiple people trampled and trapped. A school teacher who works at the event venue told Agence France-Presse that the sheer volume of attendees all attempting to exit at once created the dangerous conditions that led to the disaster.
Local law enforcement released a formal statement breaking down the casualty toll: six deaths, including five women and one man, were recorded at Bujumbura’s King Khaled Hospital, where four injured people remain receiving treatment. The remaining two fatalities were documented at a nearby military hospital, which is also caring for five other injured people. Police officials noted that most of the casualties showed no visible external trauma, indicating suffocation caused by the compressed crowd was the primary cause of death and injury.
Ndikumana, who leads the popular Kanguka (Wake Up) evangelical ministry and boasts more than 1 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, has not yet issued any public comment on the incident, nor have representatives of the event’s organizing committee. Many of the preacher’s followers believe his prayers hold the power to cure illnesses, which regularly contributes to the huge turnout he draws for public events.
Tragic crowd crushes at large religious gatherings are a recurring hazard across the African continent. In 2020, a similar incident in neighboring Tanzania killed at least 20 people when attendees rushed forward to receive anointing with blessed oil at an outdoor service. Two years later, 31 people lost their lives in Nigeria’s southern city of Port Harcourt during a food distribution event at a local church that drew crowds of hungry people who had waited overnight for aid. The same year also saw 29 people, including 11 children, killed in a crush in Liberia after thieves began robbing attendees leaving a large evangelical gathering, triggering a panicked surge. Additional reporting for this story was contributed by Bernard Bankukira.