Police confirms 61 deaths in stampede

Sixty-one people were trampled to death and many others injured on Saturday morning when a stampede broke out at a stadium in Pasig City, Metro Manila, local TV News Patrol reported.

Earlier reports said the casualty number was 66, but the police only confirmed 61, as city authority said the figure could still increase.

Ambulances and trucks from the military as well as the Philippine Red Cross rushed in and out to transfer the victims to hospitals nearby, as Philippine vice president De Castro appeared at the scene and made cellphone calls to take the command.

Remaining dead bodies of the victims lay on the ground at the scene, the TV live report showed, the police tried to maintain order amid crowd of standers-by.

Police said that thousands of people lining up at the stadium's entrance heard someone shouted "bomb," before they came into chaos.

It was in the anniversary celebration of local TV ABS-CBN's game show Wowowie, which would be held at noon, when the stampede happened.

Source: Xinhua