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Philippine officials prepare criminal charges against hotel owner
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By
Associated Press
ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
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Monday August 20, 2001 |
MANILA, Philippines - Officials were preparing criminal charges yesterday and looking for the owner of a Philippine hotel where a fire killed 72 people, most of whom suffocated after being trapped inside by barred windows.
Officials said safety violations contributed to the deaths from Saturday's pre-dawn fire at the six-story Manor Hotel in suburban Manila, where many of the victims were attending a religious conference sponsored by a U.S.-based evangelical group.
Bodies were found piled atop each other in bathrooms after fleeing smoke that filled the corridors. The hotel's power was cut during the fire, and without emergency lights, the victims apparently panicked and asphyxiated.
The Bureau of Fire Protection has formed a special team to investigate the blaze in a crowded neighborhood in Manila's Quezon city district and gather evidence against owner William Genato, who was being sought for questioning.
"I pity those people who were trapped in there," Romeo Villafuerte, head of the investigating team, told The Associated Press. "That building was really a firetrap."
Inspectors discovered a year ago that the hotel had no emergency alarms, properly functioning firefighting equipment or adequate escape routes, and the owner was notified. Villafuerte said a check after the fire showed the deficiencies hadn't been corrected.
Villafuerte said he could file the charges against Genato as early as today. The investigation also could implicate government officials who allowed the hotel to operate despite its defects, he said.
Firefighters frantically cut through the white ornate burglar bars on the hotel windows to rescue 18 people, and two jumped to safety.
A short-circuit in the ceiling of a third-floor stockroom sparked the blaze, Villafuerte said. Thick smoke spread quickly through the stairways and a ventilation shaft and accumulated in the upper floors, where most of the victims were sleeping. Nobody used the fire exits, Villafuerte said.
The concrete structure was apparently built in the late 1970s and may have previously been damaged by fire, local officials said. It was apparently not originally designed as a hotel - there were no windows in the rear - and had some permanent occupants.
It was the Philippines' worst fire since a 1996 discotheque blaze killed 160 people.
Most of the victims from Saturday's blaze had been attending a nearby evangelical Christian conference run by the Irving, Texas, Don Clowers Ministries.
The hotel had 236 registered guests - 172 taking part in the Christian crusade. Several Americans came for the "Destiny Conference," but no foreigners were believed to be among the casualties.
Officials said 15 bodies, nine belonging to women, remained unidentified.
A throng of residents living near the hotel prayed for the victims during a Mass in front of the building yesterday. A priest lighted candles at its doorsteps.
Outside, motorists slowed to a stop to gaze at the building, which showed no outward sign of the tragedy except for the sawed-off iron bars, with bits of denim trousers hanging from one.
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