Black Nazarene feast stampede injured a number of devotees

An undetermined number of people were injured in a stampede at Rizal Park in Manila on Monday, January 10, 2012, as they scrambled to touch the sculpture of the Black Nazarene at the start of the procession.

News footage of the procession showed scores of devotees pushing and shoving near the Quirino Grandstand right after the Mass celebrated by newly installed Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Tagle, ABS-CBN News said. "A steel railing was toppled while an elderly woman and a barefoot man were seen grimacing in pain before being carried off to get medical treatment."

Some of the devotees sustained leg and head injuries during the stampede.

A separate report by GMA-7 News said some 708 people out of the seven million devotees who joined the celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila on Sunday, suffered minor injuries such as blisters, lacerations, punctures, and high blood pressure.

Philippine Red Cross (PRC) secretary general Gwendolyn Pang said that of the 708 injured people, 14 were brought to hospitals in Manila.