Hotel blaze kills 78 in Philippines

At least 78 people died and 41 others were injured in a pre-dawn fire that ripped through a Philippines hotel that had no fire alarm system and lacked fire exits.

Officials said yesterday most of those who died were members of a Christian sect staying at the budget six-storey Manor Hotel in Quezon City. They were in Manila attending a conference.

Police said an electrical fault caused by an overheated air-conditioning system was believed to have been the cause of the fire, which broke out at 4.30 a.m. yesterday, on the third floor of the hotel and spread quickly to several other floors. Many of the more than 200 hotel guests were trapped by the lack of fire exits.

The victims, who included a number of children, died of suffocation inside their rooms, overcome by thick fumes.

Police said scores of trapped guests were seen weeping and waving to firemen along the hotel's balcony during the three-hour blaze. They said the trapped hotel guests cried for help and shook immovable grilles and iron bars on their windows.

Johnny Yu, Metro Manila director for civil defence, described the scene as "very depressing", saying it was sad to see the victims being so helpless. "Unconfirmed reports show 78 people died, many of them adults between 30 and 40 years," said Yu, who helped coordinate operations at the scene.

He said the firemen had to train their hoses on desperate guests crowding along the balconies waiting for help as sheets of flames spread behind them. He added that the firemen had to use special saws to cut the grilles before rescuing the victims using long ladders mounted on fire engines.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited the scene yesterday, and called for an investigation into its cause. She ordered local government authorities to coordinate with the social welfare department to assist the victims.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina said the building permits of the hotel would be "scrutinised" following reports of structural defects and a lack of adequate emergency exits.

City fire marshal Ricardo Nemenze was suspended soon after the blaze pending an investigation as Lina vowed to press charges if criminal neglect was established.

Lina said his office would also look into reports that the hotel was found only two months ago to have flouted the building code and was given 15 to 30 days to rectify any lack of facilities. "We will have to answer all these questions," he said, after a visit to the scene of the tragedy.

The Manor Hotel tragedy was the worst fire disaster to hit the country since a 1996 blaze in the Ozone Disco, also in Quezon City, which killed about 160, most of them teenagers celebrating the end of the school year.

Most of the hotel guests injured in the fire were brought to the East Avenue Medical Centre in Quezon City, reports over radio dzMM said. A boy, identified as George Shawfil, was declared dead on arrival.

A couple identified as Christian Pastor Joel Pacho and his wife, Arlene, remain missing. The fatalities, on the other hand, were taken to Camp Karingal, also in Quezon City, for identification by relatives and friends, reports over radio dzMM said.

Police said that from the outside, the Manor Hotel did not even appear to be damaged by the fire.

But they said the interiors of its third and fourth floors were clearly ravaged by the flames. On the upper floors that were untouched by the fire, bodies were found lying in the hallways and hotel rooms.

The authorities also said that hours after the fire was brought under control, firemen were still pulling bodies out of the building. They said paramedics used artificial respiration and cardiopulmonary resuscitation to try to revive some of those taken out, but to no avail.

The large number of victims who apparently died of suffocation immediately raised suspicions that the hotel had not provided sufficient safety measures such as water sprinklers, fire alarms, emergency lights, and well-designated fire exits.