Record crowd in Philippines as Pope concludes Asia trip

Pope Francis concluded his trip to Asia on Sunday with an open-air Mass for a rain-drenched crowd in Manila that the Vatican and the government said drew up to seven million people, the largest ever for a papal event.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said that if the predicted figure of six-to-seven million attendees was correct, it would be the "largest event in the history of the popes".

Pope John Paul drew some five million in a visit to the same area in 1995.

The 78-year-old current incumbent, wearing a transparent yellow poncho over his white cassock, was driven through the ecstatic crowd in his "popemobile".

In his homily, he attacked the Filipino government's population control efforts, and urged the nation to shun "social structures which perpetuate poverty, ignorance and corruption".

Huge crowds converged on a Manila park to see Pope Francis wrap up his Asian trip with an outdoor Mass expected to draw one of the largest crowds in Philippine history.

Organisers say as many as six million people may attend the afternoon service at Manila's Rizal Park, more than the some five million who flocked to a Mass by Pope John Paul 20 years ago in Asia's largest Catholic country.

Faithful began arriving at the sprawling park on Saturday night to get good places and police expect the crowd to flow over into surrounding areas. About a dozen people were injured in a minor stampede when people rushed to get into the park, Johnny Yu of the Manila city disaster office said in a radio interview.

Pope Francis was forced to end his visit to the Philippines early, after a fierce storm hit the city of Tacloban, just over a year since Typhoon Haiyan devastated the region.

Thousands of people braved the wind and rain to attend a mass, only for it to be cut short.

ITV News correspondent Richard Morgan reports:

A woman has died after being hit by scaffolding following a mass celebrated by Pope Francis in the central Philippine city of Tacloban.

The 27-year-old was a volunteer with Catholic Relief Services and was among about 150,000 people who attended the rain-drenched religious ceremonies close to Tacloban's seaside airport, police said.

Local media reported the scaffolding was used as a loudspeaker platform and was toppled by a sudden gust of wind.

Vatican spokesman the Rev Federico Lombardi said the Pope was informed of the woman's death after returning to Manila.

Francis asked his aides "to investigate how he could show his own suffering in solidarity with the (woman's) family", Mr Lombardi said.

He cut short his visit to Tacloban because of an approaching storm that brought rain and strong winds to the city.

A plane carrying Filipino government officials overshot the runway at Tacloban airport after the Pope was forced to cut short his visit to the country due to storms.

The Associated Press news agency reports that no-one was injured in the incident.

In his visit to the region hit by last year's devastating Typhoon Haiyan, Pope Francis told worshippers: "When I saw from Rome that catastrophe, I felt that I had to be here. On those very days I decided to come here.

"I am here to be with you. Perhaps a little late, I have to say, but I am here," he said.

Pope Francis has left a typhoon-hit Philippine island early due to storm, according to AFP.

Pope Francis began a Mass near Tacloban airport wearing a transparent yellow poncho over his vestments as heavy rain and strong winds lashed a large crowd of worshippers, who stood amid puddles in a mud-soaked field.

Speaking at the presidential palace on Friday, the Pope admired the "heroic strength, faith and resilience" shown by the Philippines as well as the solidarity people demonstrated after the typhoon.

Pope Francis was met with storms as he arrived in the central Philippines city of Tacloban to pray for the dead and comfort survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, the country's worst natural disaster that killed 6,300 people barely a year ago.

Tens of thousands of people wearing yellow raincoats cheered when Francis emerged from his plane in the coastal city of Tacloban 650 km (400 miles) southeast of Manila in steady rain and strong winds.