People holding flowers panicked

Fatma Ortiz Bin Surour, a Dubai resident who was vacationing in Manila with her husband, heard a loud blast while they were sleeping in their hotel.

"Our building shook. I immediately woke up my husband. Then I heard a loud siren. I thought there was fire in our building," she told Gulf News in an interview.

Fatma said she saw people holding flowers for Valentine's day, come out of the malls.

"People were panicking. They were screaming into their mobile phones."