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The
incident occurred during an all-night Christian worship event at
New Kru Town, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of the capital,
Jalawah Tonpo said.
"The doctors said 29 persons died and some are on the critical
list," Tonpo said, calling into state radio from a nearby
hospital. "This is a sad day for the country."
Exodus Morias, a resident who attended the event, told Reuters
the stampede began after a group of armed men rushed the crowd
in an attempt to stage a robbery.
"We saw a group of men with cutlasses and other weapons coming
toward the crowd," Morias said. "While running, some people
dropped and others fell on the ground and walked over them."
Bands of Liberian street gangs known as Zogos commonly commit
robberies with machetes and other small weapons.
Police spokesman Moses Carter declined to comment on what caused
the incident. He said an investigation is under way.
President George Weah, who is expected to visit the site on
Thursday afternoon, declared a three-day period of national
mourning and said the Liberian Red Cross and Disaster Management
Agency had been called in to assist victims, his office said.
(Reporting by Alphonso Toweh;Writing by Cooper Inveen;Editing by
Alison Williams, William Maclean)
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