11 people were killed in the Chinatown fire
People screamed as flames leapt out of upper-floor windows of the five-storey mixed-use building in Manila’s Binondo district, a witness said.
“I was about to open the store when I heard very loud screams of people then I saw this very huge fire from that top part of the building,” Susan Sago, 55, a salesgirl at a pastry shop on the ground floor, told AFP.
“We ran swiftly to the other street.”
More than 30 fire trucks rushed to the scene, getting the morning blaze under control about two hours later, the city’s fire bureau said.
Rescue workers later discovered the deaths of 11 persons in upstairs residential units.
Senior Inspector Michael Ignacio of the Manila Fire District informed reporters that six bodies were discovered on the second story and five more on the third floor.
“It’s possible that they were all sleeping” when the fire started, he added, adding they were most likely murdered by asphyxia.
Grocery clerk Judy Ann Labao, 22, expressed concern for the safety of two coworkers, a man and a woman, who had rented rooms in the building but had yet to arrive for work.
“He was supposed to work the first shift,” she stated of the missing man.
“We have not been able to contact them for hours,” Labao complained.
Ignacio stated that a middle-aged guy discovered outside the building was also treated after experiencing trouble breathing.
According to preliminary investigations, the fire began on the ground level of a restaurant.
The original information we received was that the LPG (cooking gas container) exploded while someone was cooking,” he explained.
AFP
