Manila factory fire kills at least 28
Print Edition
At least 28 people were killed and dozens more feared dead after a fire tore through a factory producing flip-flops in the Philippine capital Manila yesterday.
Firemen said they counted 28 bodies but were only able to retrieve three as the gutted building threatened to collapse after the blaze, which began before noon, destroyed the building.
“They were lying side by side, but all I could see were their bones,” said the Manila fire marshal, Senior Superintendent Sergio Soriano.
Factory guard Mervin Ardes, one of the survivors, said more than 50 people were at work at the time of the disaster.
The fire sent a huge column of black smoke above the city of 14 million people.
Ardes said “more than 50” employees had punched in their time cards at his post by the gate earlier yesterday before they began work.
Sparks from welding equipment used to repair a broken inner gate ignited flammable chemicals stored nearby, he added.
“It happened so fast that few people were able to escape,” he said, adding workers downstairs who were blocked by flames and smoke also fled upstairs where the bodies were later seen.
Fire engines lined the street outside as night fell, with firemen continuing to direct their water cannons at the blackened building, which was bathed with beams from search lights. The reek of foul-smelling chemicals hung in the air.
City officials drew up an official list of potential victims from the accounts of relatives who said they had yet to locate family members who were on duty at the factory at the time the blaze struck.
Huge and sometimes deadly fires at sprawling slums as well as factories are a common occurrence in the Philippine capital, where fire safety regulations are wilfully disregarded.
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