At least 74 killed in Philippine stampede (AP) Updated: 2006-02-05 08:31
Thousands of people lined up outside a stadium near Manila to watch a TV game
show surged toward the gates Saturday in the mistaken belief they were open, and
at least 74 people were trampled to death, officials said. About 500 people were
injured.
About 30,000 people were waiting to get inside the Philsports Arena for the
show "Wowowee" when the stampede occurred, said Vicente Eusebio, the mayor of
suburban Pasig, where the stampede occurred.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who visited the injured in hospitals,
ordered authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and submit a report to
her in 72 hours.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said 74 people were killed, including a
person who died of massive bleeding more than 12 hours after the stampede; 514
were injured
Relatives cry as they identify their loved
ones among those who died during a stampede in suburban Pasig, east of
Manila, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006. [AP] | Survivors said the game show was to include a raffle with a jackpot
equivalent to $384.
"The raffle tickets can be obtained at the gate so everyone was in a hurry.
There was pushing and people in front of the gate were crushed," said Myrna
Britania, 42, who spent all night in line.
"People at the back of the line were pushing, not knowing there were already
people dead lying on the ground in front."
Merquieades Salazar cried over the body of his wife, who was among those
crushed. Salazar, 45, said the couple was jobless and wanted to try their luck
at winning the jackpot.
"In the desire to win money, she is the one I lost," Salazar sobbed as he
stroked his dead wife's hair.
His son, Melvin, who had accompanied his wife, said, "We both fell and we
were both pinned to the ground."
Bags and shoes littered the scene. Authorities lined up the bodies outside
the stadium for identification. Officials put digital photographs of
unidentified bodies on windows.
Overwhelmed, some hospitals used parking lots to accommodate the injured. The
Rizal Medical Center alone was treating more than 200 people, said Sen. Richard
Gordon, head of the Red Cross.
Arroyo consoled the injured during a visit to the medical center, putting her
hands on the shoulders of Leny Subayco, 35, who was waiting for an X-ray of her
injured leg.
"The one I was trying to help also perished," she told Arroyo through tears.
Subayco later told reporters she and others were pressed against the gate of
the stadium as people fell on top of one another. She said she lost
consciousness and when she came to, she was pinned underneath people.
"Under me was a dead person, beside me there was another dead and there was
another dead above me," she said.
Vice President Noli de Castro helped direct rescue efforts at the stadium,
giving instructions to police to clear the area of people and cars.
"We did not want this to happen. It's just that there were so many people
wanting to watch 'Wowowee' because of the big prizes awaiting them," de Castro
said.
Filipino-American Brenda Baranquil, who has watched the show in Los Angeles,
said thousands of people already were lined up when she arrived at the stadium
on Thursday, a day after arriving from the United States to visit her ailing
mother.
"I knew it was a time bomb ready to explode," she said, citing the lack of
police officers to manage the crowd.
The game show, organized by ABS-CBN TV network, is popular in the Philippines
because it offers big prizes, like cars and money. Some people had lined up for
two days to get tickets.
Gordon blamed the tragedy on poor organization.
"If you predict that there's going to be a huge crowd, you should be ready
with ambulances and communications," he said. "You should plan for the worst. We
have a lot of people who wanted to help but could not get in immediately."
ABS-CBN executive vice president for entertainment, Charo Santos-Concio,
expressed regret and promised the TV station "will ensure that we will give all
needed help and support to the wounded." The show was
postponed.
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