20120509 Philippines 17 dead 1 remained missing as fire razes commercial building in Butuan
Philippines May 09 2012 “Building” “Stores”
Dead : dead more than 10 Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 1 to 9
17 dead as fire razes commercial building in Butuan
Updated: 2012-05-10-12:00
MANILA, Philippines – At least 17 people – most of them women – died while one remained missing and three others survived in the two-hour fire that gutted a garments store in Butuan City early yesterday.
Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo ordered the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to send a team to conduct a thorough investigation on the incident.
“We will send a team from Manila to investigate and establish accountabilities,” Robredo told The STAR in a text message.
Caraga police spokesman Superintendent Martin Gamba said the fire started before 4 a.m. in a still undetermined area of the three-story building at Montilla Blvd. in Butuan City, where about 20 employees were asleep.
Gamba said the building housed several commercial establishments including Novo Jeans and Shirts Store, Smart Wireless Center, St. Peter Plan Inc., Cherry Mobile Store, Western Union and Digi Life.
He added that an on-scene command post was established, with the help of the Philippine National Police (PNP), BFP and the local government unit to secure the area and facilitate traffic and crowd control.
The BFP is still in the process of determining the cause of the fire and the extent of damage to property.
According to Robredo, the last inspection conducted on the establishment was on March 22, wherein the owner was required to conduct a fire drill before issuance of Fire Safety Insurance Certificate (FSIC).
Meanwhile, as of 1:30 p.m. yesterday, the Butuan City Fire Protection office and the BFP Caraga sub-regional office reported that 12 of the 17 charred bodies retrieved have been identified.
The three injured were being treated in hospital while one person was still unaccounted for.
“Based on the accounts of Novo Jeans and Shirts Enterprises management, there are 21 salesladies and personnel staying at Novo’s living quarters located at the third floor of Lamberto Tan Building, which Novo Store is renting,” BFP Caraga regional director Fire Senior Superintendent Mario Socorro Timonera said.
Butuan City Fire Marshall Aldrick Gomez told The STAR that the fire department received an emergency call at about 3:55 a.m. yesterday, while fire trucks from nearby towns arrived at the scene one hour later.
Websource: Philstar
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=805409&publicationSubCategoryId=63