37 die in Manila attack, questions mount
Most appear to have died from smoke inhalation
MANILA — The gray smoke that belched for hours from a popular hotelcasino in Manila was initially dismissed by the police as the work of a disgruntled gambler with a bottle of gasoline.
But as day broke over the Philippine capital Friday, investigators discovered dozens of bodies, upending the government’s explanation of the fire and raising questions about the identity and motives of a suspect responsible for one of the country’s largest mass killings.
The first victims, identified as 22 guests and 13 employees of Resorts World Manila, appeared to have died of smoke inhalation, the police said, though autopsies had not yet been conducted.
The fire was started in the early hours of Friday morning, when a man carrying an assault rifle and a two-liter soda bottle filled with gasoline fired shots at a television and set fire to gambling tables, sending patrons and workers into a panic. Some fled through the exits and others jumped from second-floor balconies. But others hid in restrooms and gambling rooms, where they were overcome by smoke.
“This is also a very difficult time for all of us here in Resorts World Manila,” Stephen Reilly, the resort’s chief operating officer, told reporters. “We consider our guests, patrons and employees as our family.”
Hours after the first reports of an attack, the police and casino officials declared that the building had been cleared and all guests were accounted for. But some victims’ family members waiting outside the hotel told a different story as they waited in vain for loved ones to exit.
By midday Friday, as reports of the discovered bodies trickled out, conflicting narratives emerged. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assault through its Amaq News Agency. In a brief message in Arabic, it said, “Islamic State fighters carried out the Manila attack in the Philippines yesterday.”
On Thursday, President Donald Trump called the assault terrorism. But the police discounted that possibility and blamed one irate gambler for it. And American military intelligence officials said they had no credible indication that it was a terrorist attack.
“He could have inflicted maximum casualties, but he did not,” said Oscar Albayalde, a police spokesman, noting that the man passed scores of unarmed, fleeing patrons, who were easy targets if he aimed only to kill and frighten.
Instead, Mr. Albayalde said, the police were investigating whether robbery, rather than terrorism, was the motive.
One account from the authorities said the attacker took 130 million pesos in chips, worth about $70,000, during his spree. How he intended to cash them was not explained.
The police have not publicly identified the attacker. Rappler, a news site, reported that the gunman had been a longtime hotel guest who had a room on the fifth floor and was known to security personnel, which may have made it easier for him to sneak weapons into the resort.
Mr. Reilly, the resort executive, said the gunman had entered the resort’s mall on the second floor from the parking wing and made it past a security checkpoint and X-ray machine by firing shots into the air.
The assailant died by setting himself on fire and shooting himself in the head, the police said.