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11 die in Zimbabwe religious service stampede

The stampede came after over 30,000 people attempted to leave through one exit.

By Ed Adamczyk

KWEKWE, Zimbabwe, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Eleven people died Friday, and dozens more were injured, after a stampede at a religious event at a Kwekwe, Zimbabwe, stadium.

Over 30,000 people attended a presentation by Walter Magaya, a Christian Pentecostalist preacher, at a soccer stadium in central Zimbabwe Thursday. As the service ended Friday morning, those in attendance attempted to leave through a single exit, beginning a stampede which killed four within the stadium and seven more at local hospitals.

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Witnesses claimed police blocked the other exits and fired tear gas at the crowd as it left through the single exit. Police deny firing tear gas.

Known as Prophet Walter Magaya, the Zimbabwean spiritual leader, heads the Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries, and is well-known locally as a healer who claims to perform miracles. He told a local newspaper, when he heard of the deaths, it was "the saddest day of my life."

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