15 killed in Nigeria campaign rally stampede

The death toll from a stampede during an election campaign rally on Tuesday in Nigeria's southern state of Rivers has risen to 15, a hospital spokesman revealed Wednesday.

Kem Daniel-Elebiga, a spokesman of the Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, said in a statement that casualty data from the hospital's emergency department indicated a total of 15 bodies were brought in dead, including three men and 12 women.

He said 12 injured people rushed to the hospital received timely treatment, and three of them had been discharged.

The deadly stampede occurred Tuesday at a stadium in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers state, as supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) tried to leave the venue following President Muhammadu Buhari's campaign rally there.

Police in Rivers state earlier confirmed four deaths in the stampede.

Nigeria will hold general elections on Saturday to elect the country's president and national assembly members, and elect state governors and state legislators on March 2.