Duterte vows probe of blaze

– Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte vowed yesterday to get to the truth about a blaze in his home city that killed 37 call-centre workers.

He said he made the promise during a meeting on Monday night with the families of those killed in a shopping mall fire in the southern city of Davao.

“I assured them [...] let the truth come out,” Duterte said. “That is what they are asking for. Just the truth of what happened.”

The justice and labour departments have ordered separate investigations into Saturday’s blaze.

Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre has said his office would investigate with a view to bringing criminal charges.

A spokesperson for Davao City mayor Sara Duterte, the daughter of the president, also quoted her as promising to press charges if warranted by the results of the investigation.

The fire broke out in the four-storey NCCC Mall shortly before it opened to shoppers. But it killed 37 people working in a 24-hour call-centre for US-based market research firm SSI on the top floor.

Yesterday families of the dead waited in silence outside a hospital as government workers tried to identify the charred remains.

Social welfare officers said that so far, five bodies had been turned over to families. – AFP