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Stampede Near Manila Kills 73

At least 73 people were trampled to death early Saturday outside a stadium near Manila where thousands had lined up to watch a TV game show, many lured by the chance to win some easy money, a top Philippine health official said.

Earlier the country's Red Cross reported 88 people killed but Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said some of the dead had been counted twice. More than 300 people were injured.

About 30,000 people were waiting to get inside the stadium for the program "Wowowee," said Vicente Eusebio, the mayor of Pasig, the Manila suburb where the stampede occurred.

Suddenly the crowd surged toward the gates, thinking they were open, he said.

Eusebio and police denied reports that the stampede was caused by a bomb scare.

Survivors said the show was to include a raffle with a jackpot equivalent to $384.

"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," said Myrna Britania, 42, who spoke at a hospital where the injured were being treated.

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."

Merquieades Salazar cried over the body of his wife, who was among those crushed. Salazar, 45, said the couple was jobless and wanted to try their luck at winning the jackpot.

"In the desire to win money, she is the one I lost," Salazar sobbed as he stroked his dead wife's hair.

"We both fell and we were both pinned to the ground," he said.

Bags and shoes littered the scene. Authorities lined up the bodies outside the stadium for identification. Overwhelmed, some hospitals used parking lots to accommodate the injured.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited the injured at Rizal. When she approached Leny Subayco, a 35-year-old single mother with an injured leg, Subayco broke into tears. "The one I was trying to help also perished," she told Arroyo.

Subayco later told reporters she and others were pressed against the gate of the stadium as people fell on top of one another. She said she lost consciousness and when she came to, she was pinned underneath people.

"Under me was a dead person, beside me there was another dead and there was another dead above me," she said.

Vice President Noli de Castro helped direct rescue efforts at the stadium, giving instructions to police to clear the area of people and cars.

"We did not want this to happen. It's just that there were so many people wanting to watch Wowowee because of the big prizes awaiting them," de Castro said.

The game show, organized by ABS-CBN TV network, is popular in the Philippines because it offers big prizes, like cars and money. Some people had lined up for two days to get tickets.

Gordon blamed the tragedy on poor organization.

"If you predict that there's going to be a huge crowd, you should be ready with ambulances and communications," he said. "You should plan for the worst. We have a lot of people who wanted to help but could not get in immediately."

ABS-CBN executive vice president for entertainment, Charo Santos-Concio, expressed regret and promised the TV station "will ensure that we will give all needed help and support to the wounded." The show was postponed.

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