Two crushed at Naked Festival

2003-02-14 09:12

Tokyo - Two people were crushed and remained unconscious on Friday after a crowd of about 9 000 men wearing only loincloths got out of control at an annual Naked Festival in central Japan, police said.

The two men were in serious condition the morning after the accident, a police official said, requesting anonymity.

The two victims were trampled on by fellow participants in the popular ritual, which dates back over 1 200 years. Another 38 of the participants and spectators were treated at the local hospital for injuries, he said.

Some 125 000 people showed up to watch the crowd of men dressed in white loincloths try to ward off bad luck by touching the body of the year's appointed "sacred man" as he enters Konomiya Shrine, in central Japan.

The two unconscious men, aged 30 and 41, got caught under the mob of pushing and shoving worshippers before others noticed and were able to call for medical assistance, the police official said.

Some of the injured were sick after drinking too much Japanese rice wine, or sake, to warm themselves in the freezing mid-February temperatures, the police official added.

Several people are generally injured in the ritual every year, but there have been no other cases of serious injury in recent memory, he said. - Sapa-AP

- SAPA