Philippine hotel fire four killed, at least 19 trapped

On a Sunday morning, fire swept at the Waterfront Manila Pavilion, a hotel and casino complex, was still raging six hours after it began. More than 300 people were present when the incident took place and six people were brought to hospital, fire and city officials said.

According to the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, four people were killed and 19 feared with others plucked from the rooftop by helicopter, authorities said.

Two people who died are identified as hotel employees, said Manila city’s disaster risk reduction chief, Johnny Yu.

Johnny Yu told, “The two are a security guard and a treasury officer. They were likely trapped, suffered from suffocation and were brought to the hospital but declared dead on arrival and 19 people were missing."

The authorities are investigating the cause of the fire which began in the casino or mezzanine area of the 21-floor hotel.

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A helicopter reached to rescue the people who were trapped on the rooftop and officials launched a ground operation to get the others out.

Manila is one of 16 cities making up Metro Manila. Nearby cities were helping put out the blaze, Manila’s fire department said.

TV footage showed dark gray smoke billowing from the first and second floors of the hotel as rescuers brought people out of the building.

A similar incident took place in 2015 at a factory which makes rubber slippers, where 72 people died. Also, in 2017 a fire swept at a shopping mall and a call centre in the southern city of Davo, 38 people were killed.

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