11 killed in building fire

Manila: At least 11 people died on Friday in a fire in a five-storey residential and commercial building in the Chinatown precinct of manila in the Philippines. The fire was extinguished after three hours. It was not immediately clear if more people had been trapped and were feared dead.

More details awaited.

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The Philippines has a patchy record in enforcing fire safety in buildings, homes and offices. 16 people died in a fire at a residential and warehouse building in August last year, while a massive fire engulfed the capital’s historic Central Post Office building in May 2023. In 2017, a fire at a shopping mall in southern Davao City killed 37 call centre agents and a security officer. The deadliest incident was a 1996 nightclub fire that killed 162 people, mostly students celebrating the end of the school year, in Quezon City in the capital region.