Manila game show stampede kills 73

Manila, (Philippines): A crowd of people awaiting entrance to a stadium in Manila stampeded Saturday, killing at least 73 people and injuring 322, an official said.

A report carried by the Associated Press quotes the Philippine Red Cross Chairman Senator Richard Gordon as saying the toll was at least 88 people.

Some of the 20,000 people who were lined up outside the arena had been waiting for days to gain access to the stadium, where a game show was to be videotaped, Philippines Congressman Robert Jaworski told CNN.

At 7 a.m., five hours before the show was to begin, people were being admitted to the stadium at such a slow pace that one member of the crowd apparently decided to hasten the process, he said.

"Someone shouted and and screamed that there was a bomb," Jaworski said.

"It was just a prank by one of those irresponsible people who wanted to get in first. Sadly, it caused a panic. It was a down-slope road and they started running down the hill ... they just started trampling each other."

Most of the casualties were women, he said.

The people in the crowd were packed so closely together that it took police and rescue workers until 9 a.m. to reach those who were hurt, resulting in a number of deaths that a faster response could have prevented, he added.

"The gates were being partially opened then shut," said Myrna Britania, 42, who spoke at a hospital where the injured were being treated, AP reports.

"The raffle tickets can be obtained at the gate so everyone was in a hurry. There was pushing and people in front of the gate were crushed."

Britania, who had spent all night in line, said "people at the back of the line were pushing not knowing there were already people dead lying on the ground in front."

Police Superintendent Gerry Galvan told AP at least 50 people died at the stadium and the rest at hospitals where they were taken.

Radio DZBB reported that hospitals were overwhelmed with the scores of injured and were using parking lots to accommodate them.

Gordon blamed poor organization of the event for the tragedy.

"If you predict that there's going to be a huge crowd, you should be ready with ambulances and communications," AP quotes him as saying.

"You should plan for the worst. We have a lot of people who wanted to help but could not get in immediately."

(With AP inputs)