Pope says a Prayer for Stampede Victims in Italy

Pope Francis prayed on Saturday (December 8) for the six victims of a stampede at a packed nightclub near Ancona on Italy’s Adriatic coast.

“I remember in my prayers the young people and the mother who died during the night in a nightclub in Corinaldo, near Ancona, as well as the numerous injured”, the pontiff told thousands in St. Peter’s Square during his address.

The deaths occurred when a walkway leading out of the Lanterna Azzurra nightclub in the town of Corinaldo collapsed, causing dozens of people to fall into a trench below.

Three girls, two boys and a mother who had accompanied her child to the event died in the crush. Police said the teenagers were aged between 14 and 16, while the dead woman was 39.

The local fire brigade said someone might have sprayed a substance like pepper spray into the crowd, triggering a panicked rush to the emergency exits.

In the afternoon Francis will pay homage to the Virgin Mary by visiting the statue of the Madonna on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in Rome.