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At least 66 killed in Manila stampede
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-04 09:34
A stampede broke out early Saturday outside a stadium near Manila where tens
of thousands of people had lined up to watch a popular game show, and at
least 66 spectators were killed, an official said.
Metro Manila authority executive director Lito Vergel De Dios said in a radio
interview that a crowd had been gathering around the ULTRA stadium since
Wednesday to get into the taping of a popular television variety show.
Victims of a stampede lie on a street in
Manila February 4, 2006. Sixty-six people were killed in a stampede at a
stadium in the Philippine capital, Manila, on Saturday as they lined up to
get tickets for a popular television gameshow, police and local officials
said.[Reuters] | He was earlier quoted as saying 54 people had been killed.
Officials contacted by AFP said they were still trying to compile a total
from all the hospitals in the area.
De Dios said someone in the crowd was believed to have shouted "bomb,"
sparking a panic that caused people to trample one another.
Dead bodies, most of them women, were taken out of the stadium on stretchers
and laid down on a dirty street, covered with newspapers, plastic bags and
discarded cloth.
A little boy was seen crying over the body of his mother, trying to awaken
her.
Thousands of people were still streaming through the area after the incident,
milling around dead bodies and blocking the entry of ambulances.
Discarded shoes and slippers along with broken bottles and food were
scattered all around the stadium.
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