BACOLOD CITY – At least 70 individuals fainted due to dehydration and exhaustion from the extreme heat during the Pakol Festival on Thursday, April 25, in Santa Catalina, Negros Oriental.
Nurse Guian Jeif Anqui of the Santa Catalina Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said that most of the victims were native dancers participating in the Street-Dancing Competition and Festival Showdown. Others were spectators, guests, and barangay officials.
Anqui said that the street-dancing competition started around 2 p.m. when the temperature was 40 to 41 degrees Celsius.
He said that there were dancers who suffered exhaustion and dehydration because of their tight costumes and heavy headdresses and props. Some of them were on the streets as early as 11 a.m.
Another factor behind the incident, he said, could be that the area is crowded with people.
Most of the affected dancers were from Barangay Poblacion 1, the last contingent in the competition, Anqui added.
Anqui said that all of them were attended to by rescuers and nobody was confined in the hospital.
He said the festival showdown was delayed for about an hour because the organizers held a meeting to discuss whether or not to push through with the event or postpone it.
Anqui said the festival showdown still pushed through after the dancers recovered shortly.