DAVAO CITY, PHILIPPINES (CNN) - At least 37 people are feared dead after a fire broke out Saturday at a shopping mall in the southern Philippine city of Davao.
Deputy Mayor Paolo Duterte quoted the ground commander of the Brigade of Fire Protection as saying the chances of finding 37 missing persons alive were zero, in a posting on Facebook which also lists the names of the missing.
“Please continue to pray for everyone’s safety,” the management of the New City Commercial Center said in a statement Saturday afternoon, without mentioning the number of those trapped.
The fire started around 9:40 a.m., according to initial reports from the Davao City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office. Despite reports from the mall earlier in the day that the situation was under control, the fire was still raging as of 8 p.m., the disaster office reported.
NCCC Mall said in its Facebook page that the mayor’s and social services offices are ready to assist families of those missing at a restaurant about 200 meters from the mall.
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