1 body recovered, 36 feared dead in Philippine mall fire

— Philippine firefighters recovered one body from a burning shopping mall Sunday and there was “zero” chances of survival for 36 other trapped people inside the four-story building in southern Davao city, an official said.

Mayor Sara DuterteCarpio said firefighters told distraught relatives of the 36 trapped employees of a business outsourcing company at the top floor of the NCCC Mall that nobody could survive the extreme heat and thick black smoke.

“They were told that the chances of survival are zero,” she said.

It is unclear when firefighters can break into most areas of the mall, where the blaze was put under control Sunday morning, though smoke continued to billow from the building. The firefighters won’t stop until all those reported missing are found, Duterte-Carpio said.

Investigators will determine the cause of the fire and the prospects of criminal lawsuits against the mall owners and officials would depend on the outcome of the investigation, said the mayor, who is the daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The mall’s marketing manager, Janna Abdullah Mutalib, said the fire started Saturday morning on the third floor where clothes, appliances and furniture are sold, after a storm hit Davao and flooded parts of the city.

Meanwhile, one of the deadliest storms to hit the Philippines this year blew out of the country’s south Sunday after leaving more than 120 people dead and 160 missing in landslides and flash floods.

Tropical Storm Tembin strengthened into a typhoon before moving into the South China Sea. Most of the dead and missing were reported in the hardhit provinces of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur.