Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 11) — At least one person has died in a fire that hit a residential building in Malate, Manila on Saturday, authorities said.
The victim — a male foreign national about 40 to 45 years old — allegedly fell off of the Legaspi Towers 300 building while trying to escape the blaze, Barangay 719 Captain Jaime Adriano official told CNN Philippines. Video footage shows the male victim dangling from one of the floors.
This is a developing story.
The fire was put out at 9:01 p.m.. It was categorized as a fourth alarm fire at 6:09 p.m., which means 16 trucks were deployed to the area. The fire started at the eighth floor, according to an initial report.
Intramuros Fire Sub-Station Commander Lowie Puno said at least 150 residents and tenants have been evacuated. The estimated cost of damage is P300,000.
Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire. Adriano said the building did not have sprinklers installed.
“Ang problema lang talaga dito, wala nang fire sprinkler,” he said.
[Translation: The real problem here is, there were no fire sprinklers.]
