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TV stampede toll hits 88
04/02/2006 11:24 - (SA)
Manila - A stampede broke out at a Philippines stadium on Saturday, killing 88 people and injuring more than 300 in a crush to attend a popular game show that was giving away cash and prizes.
Some people had camped for days to get into the taping of the "Wowowee" variety show, and officials said they did not know what triggered the crush outside the gates of the stadium in the eastern Manila suburb of Pasig.
"We were hoping to get a chance to win money," said housewife Esperanza Marasigan, desperately searching for her relatives in the mayhem. "We never thought this would turn out to be a nightmare."
Senator Richard Gordon, who is also chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, said 88 people had been confirmed dead and 337 others injured in the melee outside the set of the show.
President Gloria Arroyo ordered an official probe into the cause of the dawn accident at the Ultra stadium, where police said more than 10 000 people has massed, some as early as Thursday, to secure limited seats to the show.
Arroyo later comforted the injured at area hospitals, where emergency rooms were overwhelmed with victims, with some forced to await treatment on plastic chairs or even on the floor.
The Philippine president pledged to release results of the official investigation in 72 hours.
Bodies were brought out of the stadium and placed on a litter-filled street, covered with plastic bags or newspapers. Some relatives stroked the faces of their dead loved ones, mourning and in shock after the melee.
Melvin Salazar, 17, tried to console his father Merquiades, who refused to let go of the body of his 42-year-old wife Jocelyn as a paramedic tried to intervene.
"We were just coming to have a good time with the family," the son said.
The cause of the stampede was unclear, with some officials saying someone had shouted "bomb," sparking a panic that caused people to trample one another.
Pasig deputy police chief Romeo Abaring said they were still investigating the incident and could not say if the crush had been triggered by the alleged bomb threat.
- SAPA
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