Death toll rises to five in hotel casino blaze

The death toll in the fire that razed the Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel Sunday rose to five as fire officials declared fire out at 10:56 a.m. yesterday after more than 24 hours of containing the blaze.

Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Arson Chief Reden Alumno confirmed the five fatalities were employees of the Philippine Amusement and Gam-

ing Corporation (Pagcor).

“Yesterday (Monday), we had an accounting of three dead. At dawn, we had one... so that makes four. And we recovered another one, so that's five," Alumno said.

Pagcor Assistant Vice President for Corporate Communications Carmelita Valdez identified the fatalities as treasury officer Edilberto Evangelista, assistant treasury officer Marilyn Omadto, security guard Billy Rey de Castro, CCTV operators John Mark Sabido and Jon Cris Banang.

Another victim, Jennilyn Figueroa is still in the hospital.

Pagcor AVP for Entertainment Jimmy Bondoc said Pagcor chair Andrea Domingo ordered the immediate-release of 1100,000 to the families of the five employees who perished in the fire. Domingo also assured that Pagcor employees affected by the blaze will be transferred to other Pagcor branches.

"All financial assistance will be given to the families of the victims. Two of our deceased employees are in Arlington and we've sent some of our employees to assist them,” Valdez added at a news briefing. Zero visibility Alumno said initial investigation showed the fire started on the ground level of the casino. “We will see if how much damage the fire caused on the 8th floor. But definitely from ground to the seventh floor, totally damaged," he added.

Rescuers said billowing smoke, sometimes so dense it obscured the 22-floor Waterfront Manila Pavilion, had hampered efforts to contain the blaze which started Sunday morning.

"The smoke was so big, so you can just imagine, there was zero visibility and our firefighters had difficulty breathing. Even outside the building there was zero visibility and it was much harder to operate inside," Manila district fire marshal Jonas Silvano said in a radio interview.

The hotel is owned and operated by Acesite (Phils.) Hotel Corp, a subsidiary of Waterfront Philippines, Inc.

“Hotel operations have been temporarily suspended until the proper clearances from the government regulatory agencies have been obtained,” Acesite told the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday.

Manila Pavilion Hotel Corporate Planning Director Maria Socorro Cotelo said the hotel is equipped with a fire alarm which reportedly rang when smoke started to billow and have complied with the required fire drills and fire prevention equipments. (With reports from AFP and Reuters)