A stampede at a religious event in the suburbs of the Liberian capital Monrovia has killed at least 29 people on Thursday. Those who died from the incident include 11 children and a pregnant woman, police said.

The deputy information minister; Jalwa Tonpo said the incident happened during an all-night Christian worship program in New Crew Town, on the outskirts of the capital.

“Doctors said 29 people died and some are on the serious list,” Tonpo said while calling state radio from a nearby hospital. “It’s a sad day for the country.”

The bodies have been taken to the morgue of Redemption Hospital, close to where the incident occurred in a beach area called New Kru Town.

Exodus Morias, a resident who attended the event, told Reuters that the stampede began when a group of armed men tried to rob the crowd.

“We saw a group of people with cutlass and other weapons approaching the crowd,” Morias said. “While running some people fell and some fell on the ground and walked over them.”

Local media said it was a Christian prayer gathering, known in Liberia as a “crusade,” held in a football field.

According to residents, bands of Liberian street gangs known as zogos usually carry out robberies with a machete and other small arms. This has become an increasing problem in Monrovia and other Liberian cities in recent years.

Police spokesman Moses Carter declined to comment on the cause of the incident. He said that investigation is going on.

His office said President George Weah, who is expected to visit the site on Thursday afternoon, announced three days of national mourning and that the Liberian Red Cross and the Disaster Management Agency were called to assist the victims. was, his office said.

Liberia, Africa’s oldest republic, is an impoverished country that is still recovering after back-to-back civil wars between 1989-2003, as well as the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic.