Manila Pavilion fire fatalities rise to 5

UNDER CLOSE WATCH Firemen keep an eye on the Manila Pavilion Hotel to prevent flames from rekindling. Grig C. Montegrande

The fatalities in the fire that engulfed Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel and Casino for over 24 hours climbed to five following the recovery of the bodies of two missing Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) employees on Monday morning.

Pagcor assistant vice president Carmelita Valdez identified the victims as John Mark Sabido and Jocris Banang, closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera operators.

“Their bodies were charred [and] one of them had to be identified by his wife through [his] wedding ring,” Jimmy Bondoc, Pagcor vice president for entertainment, said in an interview.

Firefighters found the victims’ bodies inside the CCTV monitoring office on the fourth floor. Why the pair remained at their post despite the fire has yet to be established.

The three other fatalities were also Pagcor employees: treasury officers Edilberto Evangelista and Marilyn Omadto, and security guard, Billy Rey de Castro. They were declared dead on arrival at Manila Doctors Hospital on Sunday.

Doctors managed to revive a sixth Pagcor employee, Jenifer Figueroa, who remained under observation at the hospital.

In a press conference on Monday, Bondoc and Valdez said the treasury officers were securing the money inside a vault room when they passed out due to the thick smoke.

No order to stay put

But the Pagcor officials clarified that there were no orders from them for the employees to prioritize the money over their own safety.

“We were told that their colleagues were already [urging] them to leave but they stayed and did their jobs,” Valdez said, adding that the victims probably thought the flames would not spread so fast.

Bondoc declined to reveal how much money the victims were securing at that time, citing confidentiality.

He explained that securing casino money during emergencies was part of their workers’ training program. But during Sunday’s fire, no one ordered anyone to prioritize money over their lives, he stressed.

“Some people are making it appear that [Pagcor employees] were told to keep the money safe first. It’s not like that. That’s not true,” Bondoc said.

According to him, financial assistance will be given to the families of the fatalities.

The blaze broke out on the ground floor of the 22-story hotel at 9:48 a.m. on Sunday. The cause remains unknown as investigators have yet to start their probe.

Firefighters declared the fire out at 10:56 a.m. on Monday, more than 24 hours after it began.

Supt. Jonas Silvano, Manila fire marshal, said the blaze destroyed the hotels’s first to seventh floors. Mopping up operations were still ongoing and all rooms have yet to be searched.

However, based on the hotel’s logbook, all 391 guests and hotel staffers, on top of the 73 casino employees, have been accounted for.

Pagcor worker still critical

A Pagcor employee was reportedly still in serious condition while about 13 others suffered from difficulty in breathing. Some firefighters were also treated for smoke inhalation.

“The smoke was so big so you can just imagine, there was zero visibility and our firefighters had difficulty breathing. Even outside the building, there was zero visibility and it was much harder to operate inside,” Silvano said in a radio interview. —With a report from AFP