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At least 40 people in the Philippines were injured many of them sustaining electric shocks, and two were missing after a boat participating in a local festival hit an overhead electric cable, radio said.
The boat, in the shape of a pagoda, was one of several in a river parade to celebrate a feast in the province of Pampanga, north of Manila, on Sunday.
"When the floating pagoda crossed the Pampanga River, its metal arch hit a cable of the local electric company," Bajun Lacap, vice-mayor of the nearby town of Masantol, told radio.
At least 100 people were on the boat and several jumped into the river after the cable snagged, causing sparks and small explosions. The two missing may have drowned, Lacap said.
- REUTERS
