AMN
At least 37 people were killed in a fire that engulfed a shopping mall in the southern Philippine city of Davao. According to police, the blaze started at the four-storey NCCC Mall yesterday morning and people were trapped inside, including in a call centre on the top floor.
The fire started on the third floor, which houses products like fabrics, wooden furniture and plastic ware. Investigators believed some of those killed had been trapped in the call centre, which operated 24 hours a day.
President Rodrigo Duterte, who served as mayor of Davao for about two decades and continues to live in the city, visited the mall last night to comfort relatives of the victims. Davao is the biggest city in the southern Philippines. It is about 1,000 kilometres south of Manila.