FOUR devotees died during the 2026 Feast of the Black Nazarene, according to church and police officials.
In a press briefing, Nazareno 2026 spokesperson Rev. Fr. Robert Arellano called on the faithful to pray for the casualties recorded.
"We have a total of four casualties. We ask that you pray for them. We have to include them in our prayers," said Arellano.
"We can say that this is one of the (Nazareno) events with the highest data when it comes to casualties," he added.
Arellano said the casualties are among the 1,057 individuals hurt or fell ill during the event.
"At this point in time, based on the last assessment, most of them are okay now," he said.
On the other hand, Arellano said they are grateful that their worst fear for the procession did not happen.
"The worst we expected in such gatherings would be a stampede. This is what we want to avoid. We are grateful that we did not end up to that point," said Arellano.
A total of 9,640,290 devotees participated in the annual Feast of the Jesus Nazareno. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)