TV host to be quizzed over deadly stampede

A POPULAR TV host was questioned by the authorities yesterday following a stampede that killed at least 74 people and injured more than 500 others at a suburban Manila stadium where a massive crowd turned up to watch a popular TV game show.

Willie Revillame, host of the Wowowee programme, will appear before a government fact-finding panel along with executives of the television network which produces the show, and security officers and guards, presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered a rapid investigation into the stampede on Saturday at the Philsports Arena in suburban Pasig city where an unruly crowd surged toward a gate in a frenzy to get raffle tickets and seats to the show.