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NAZARENE  DEVOTEE  TRAMPLED  TO  DEATH IN ANNUAL PROCESSION

MANILA, January 10, 2006 (STAR) By Evelyn Macairan And Edu Punay - A male devotee was killed during the annual procession of the Black Nazarene early yesterday afternoon after wood planks covering an excavation on C. Palanca street in Quiapo, Manila collapsed beneath him.

"He was trampled on after he fell," Senior Superintendent Romulo Sapitula of the Manila Police District (MPD) said, adding that hundreds of others were also injured in the stampede.

According to Medical Officer 4 Shirley Yabut of the Manila Health Office, the stampede probably killed the victim, who was initially identified as Ruben according to the name patch on his shirt. The Philippine General Hospital (PGH), where the victim was brought for treatment, said his name was Dante.

"The wooden manhole cover gave way because there were many people stepping on it," Yabut said. "The victim fell into the manhole while others tripped over him and might have landed on him. He died of cardiac arrest."

Thousands of devotees trooped to Manila yesterday to catch a glimpse of or touch the statue of the Black Nazerene as it was carried down the streets of Quiapo.

Several men were standing on a wooden manhole cover when they fell and were stepped on, witnesses said. It took time for the men to be carried out one by one from the jammed square fronting the Quiapo Church, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Vidal Querol said.

Lito Marcellana of the Fire Emergency and Paramedic Assistance Group rushed the victim to PGH: "We brought him to the ambulance and gave him cardio-pulmonary resuscitation but, after a few minutes, it was decided that he should be brought to PGH. While on the way, I was giving him CPR until we reached the hospital, (where) the doctors pronounced him dead," he said.

Manila Mayor Lito Atienza said he was saddened by death of a devotee of the Black Nazarene. "We will review the use of the wooden manhole covers in Manila... It is just sad that this particular manhole cover caused an accident," he said.

Sapitula said that, as of 4 p.m. yesterday, the celebration reached its peak with a crowd of 600,000 devotees.

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When finally the gates of the church are slung open and the carriage with The Black Nazarene appears, it is greeted with shouts of Viva! Viva! Viva! At the same time people try to climb inside the carriage to touch the statue of the Black Nazarene while the guards in yellow shirts are pushing them back into the crowds. Some people are trampled or passed out.

The carriage is pulled by two ropes through the streets of Quiapo by barefoot devotees. Touching one of the ropes seems to be as important as touching the Black Nazarene.  It takes hours before the carriage finally returns inside the church.

As usual the media is well represented.

This guy is not used to be photographed...

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The devotees are galvanized and are waiting with excitement for the Black Nazarene to come out of the church.

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No Pinoy fiesta without food...

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Near Quiapo church faith healers, some claiming to have powers to revive the dead, are walking in white robes curing the sick. To me it looks like exorcism.

Devotees are displaying their faith with banners and crucifixes.

Devotees walk barefoot as a sign of respect for the Black Nazarene.

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There are replica's of the Black Nazarene everywhere and they are paraded through the streets.

Towels are rubbed on the statues in the hope of carrying some of Christ's power away with them.

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All around, hawkers are peddling food, rosaries and T-shirts with the Christ’s image.

Saint John the Baptist Church in Quiapo.

Procession of the Black Nazarene.

The Black Nazarene is a life-sized statue of Christ that a priest bought in Mexico, carved by an Aztec carpenter. The statue was brought to Manila in 1606. The statue was blackened by a shipboard fire, on the journey from Acapulco to Manila, and has since been called the Black Nazarene.

Though burnt, the image was still well preserved and honored by the people of Manila and, since then, many who became devotees of the Black Nazarene reported miraculous occurrences which they credited to the statue, such as healing the sick and granting wishes.  Since 1787 the statue has been housed at Saint John the Baptist Church in Quiapo.

The procession, and the accompanying Feast of the Black Nazarene, takes place every year on the ninth day of January. For more than 200 years the church has been placing the statue on a gilded carriage every January and pulling it through the streets of Quiapo. People who touch it are reported to sometimes be healed of diseases. Catholics come from all over Manila on the chance that they will be able to get close enough to touch the image and perhaps receive a miracle. They also throw towels to the people who guard the statue and ask them to rub the towel on the statue in hopes of carrying some of that power away with them.

In 1998, a replica of the original Black Nazarene was first paraded due to the repeated damages on the statue. Today this replica is still used in the parades while the original rests inside the church.

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From early morning on brass bands are parading through the streets of Quiapo.