Davao (Philippines): Thirty-seven people
were believed killed in a fire that engulfed a shopping mall
in the southern Philippine city of Davao, the local vice mayor
said today.
A Bureau of Fire Protection commander at the scene said
the chances of the 37 surviving were "zero", Paolo Duterte,
the vice mayor, who is also the president's son, wrote in a
Facebook post.
The blaze started at the four-storey NCCC Mall yesterday
morning and people were trapped inside, including in a call
centre on the top floor, Ralph Canoy, a police officer in the
district, told AFP.
Canoy said the fire was still going before dawn this
morning.
"The fire started on the third floor, which houses
products like fabrics, wooden furniture and plastic ware, so
the fire quickly spread and it's taking a long time to put
out," he said.
He said investigators believed some of those likely
killed had been trapped in the call centre, which operated 24
hours a day.
"It's possible that while they were working, they did not
immediately notice the fire spreading," Canoy said of the call
centre workers.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who served as mayor of Davao
for about two decades and continues to live in the city,
visited the mall yesterday night to comfort relatives of the
victims, one of his aides told AFP.
Davao is the biggest city in the southern Philippines. It
is about 1,000 kilometres south of Manila.
