More than 600 devotees of the Black Nazarene were injured during the religious festival in Quiapo, Manila on Monday. The procession of the Feast of the BlackNaz­arene have been swarmed by millions of devotees despite the warning of a pos­sible terror threat during the procession. Devotees joining the traditional proces­sion held yearly every January 9, endure heat, hunger, and pushing while walking barefoot for several kilometers to return the image to Quiapo. According to reports, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) reported 157 injuries, while other rescue units and volunteers treated more than 500 injuries. Most of the injured devotees suffered fromfoot injuries, high blood pressure, and exhaustion caused by people push­ing and shoving to get near the image of the Black Nazarene which many devotees believe has miraculous attributes.

Meanwhile, mobile subscribers in cer­tain parts of Manila especially in the route of the procession experienced loss of signal due to security measures conduct­ed by the government. The government received informa­tion of a possible bombing during the procession and asked telecommunica­tions companies to cut-off their services in the route of the procession.

It was the longest Black Nazarene procession in the history of the religous festival. It took 22 hours to bring the Black Nazarene from Quirino Grandstand to Quiapo Church. The procession be­gan at around 8 a.m. Monday and ends at around 6 a.m. because the wheels of the carriage carrying the Black Nazarene broke twice and one of the ropes used to pull it snapped.

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