Police say a church volunteer has died after she was hit by scaffolding following a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in the central Philippine city of Tacloban.
Regional police chief Asher Dolina said that the 27-year-old woman was a volunteer with Catholic Relief Services and was among about 150,000 people who attended the rain-drenched religious ceremonies Saturday close to Tacloban’s seaside airport.
A Vatican spokesman says the pope has not yet been informed of the woman’s death. The pope visited Tacloban to comfort victims of a deadly 2013 typhoon.
ABS-CBN television cited the medical director of the hospital where the woman was taken as saying she died from a skull fracture.
Local media reported the scaffolding was used as a loudspeaker platform and was toppled by a sudden gust of wind.
