Devotees follow the carriage transporting the statue of the Black Nazarene during an annual religious procession in its honor in the capital city of the Philippines, Thursday, January 9.
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READ MORE: Thousands of barefoot devotees joined the religious procession in Manila, hoping to touch a centuries-old icon of Jesus Christ, called the Black Nazarene, which is believed to have miraculous powers.
Devotees clamber over one another to touch the life-size statue, wipe a towel on it or even just lay a hand on the ropes attached to its metal float.
Scores of the barefoot faithful pass out and suffer cuts or bruises in the crush around the statue, and, in previous years, some have died in Catholic majority Philippines.
Just hours into the procession the Red Cross reported giving first aid to about 300 people at the procession, similar in numbers to previous years.
The statue is named for its charred appearance and is accompanied by many difficult-to-prove stories, including that it survived a fire while en route to the Philippines in the 17th century. (AFP)
