37 feared dead in mall fire; Tembin toll crosses 200

DAVAO: At least 37 people, including call centre staff from an American firm, are believed to have perished in a fire that tore through a shopping mall in the Philippine city of Davao, local authorities said on Sunday.

President Rodrigo Duterte, himself a Davao native, visited distraught relatives outside the burning building overnight but told them there was “zero” chance their loved ones had survived, witnesses told AFP.

Firemen found one body as the blaze was finally extinguished Sunday, Davao Mayor Sara Duterte -- the president’s daughter -- told reporters.

Firemen have concluded that all those trapped in the building are dead, she said, adding: “They assessed that no one would survive in that heat and with that thick, black smoke.”

The blaze started at the fourstorey NCCC Mall on Saturday morning, sending thick plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky over Davao.

The building’s top floor housed a 24-hour call centre for the US-based market research company SSI.

In a statement on its local Facebook page, SSI said it would set up a “command centre” for the relatives of those missing. “Please continue to pray for everyone’s safety,” the firm added.

Davao fire marshal Honeyfritz Alagano said the blaze may have started by a spark on the third floor of the mall, which had a furniture section.