Manila Shopping Center Mall Fire Continues Into Its Second Day

Manila, Philippines (AHN) - The Sunday night fire that hit a shopping mall in the shopping district of Baclaran is still burning.

Firefighters found it difficult to battle the two-day fire due to the absence of windows and doors, textiles stored in the mall and lack of water and equipment.

According to Fire Superintendent Mauricio Ramos, the alert level at the FB Harrison Megaplex Terminal 3 blaze is still at Task Force Foxtrot, which means there must be at least 30 fire trucks and 50 firemen to end the conflagration.

Because of the continuous fire, the light rail transit could not reach the Baclaran station. Daily trips from the northern end Monumento are up to the Edsa-Taft Ave. station only. This has caused the LRT to lose $9,000 (400,000 peso) in daily revenues from 30,000 commuters who ride the train from the Baclaran station, according to Cesar Chavez, the LRT's deputy administrator.

Investigators are checking if the mall was deliberately set on fire to collect on insurance.

The Sunday night blaze is considered one of the longest in the country's fire history. A fire in the same area over a year ago lasted one-and-a-half days.

Last month, fire also gutted another mall in Libertad, also affecting the operations of the LRT.