By RussWilcox [From Sea to Shining Sea}
February 4, 2006

At least 73 people have died and 350 have been injured after a stampede at a sports stadium in the Philippine capital Manila.

Most of the dead were elderly women.

The gathered crowds were scrambling to get into a popular television game show where cash prizes were on offer.

Most of the dead were elderly women, who were trampled underfoot or crushed against a closed steel gate at the bottom of a slope. One child has also been reported killed.

About 25,000 people were at the stadium to watch the first anniversary celebration of the game show "Wowowee", which picks contestants at random from the audience.

Thousands of fans, many of them poor, camped out for days for a chance at the jackpot of 1 million pesos (£10,910).

It is not yet clear what caused the stampede, but some witnesses said rumours of a bomb ran through the crowd causing panic.

However, the mayor of Manila said the stampede began when the crowd pushed and surged toward the closed gates, thinking they were open, trampling those in front.

"The slope was so steep that when one person stumbled, they fell like dominoes," said Vidal Querol, Manila's police chief.

The television network behind the "Wowowee" anniversary event cancelled the show and said it would pay for funeral and hospital expenses.
Telegraph Group

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Russell Wilcox is a retired college professor who spends several months in Florida and several months in Rhode Island each year, and whose interests include boating and sailing, political activism, ballroom dancing and bridge. He has an MBA from Harvard, a Computer Systems CAGS from Bryant and a BS from Northeastern. He has worked in industry for EG&G and Texas Instruments, operated his own business with more than 200 employees, and served as Director of the Computer Information Systems Program for Stonehill College. He is a published author of two technical studies, and is the proud father of four children and the proud grandfather of six grandchildren. A holder of two patents in microchip connections and a true product of the melting pot, his father is the son of a Yankee farmer, and his mother the second generation daughter of Italian immigrants who retained their culture, but strove mightily to become Americans, sending four sons to fight against Hitler and Mussolini.