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Terrorism Fear at Manila Casino May Have Been Caused by Irate Gambler Hours After Fires, 36 Bodies Are Found at Manila Casino
(about 5 hours later)
MANILA — It started as a mass panic at the biggest hotel-casino resort in the Philippines over fears of an Islamic State terrorist attack. It ended with the police saying the assailant, who was killed, may have been a gambler with a grudge. MANILA — Thirty-six bodies were found at the biggest hotel-casino in the Philippines after a gunman carrying a container of gasoline set fires and touched off a mass panic — hours after the authorities said that only the assailant had died.
Patrons jumped off balconies and fled as police officers with bomb-sniffing dogs searched Resorts World Manila complex for armed attackers early Friday. At least two dozen people were reported hurt in their rush to escape. The discovery of the bodies was confirmed about noon on Friday by Oscar Albayalde, a police spokesman. Another police official, Tomas Apolonio Jr., said that the victims died of smoke inhalation in the casino area.
Hours later, the police and hotel officials said initial reports and rumors that Islamic State gunmen had invaded and set fire to the hotel casino were false, and that one man — possibly an irate gambler with a rifle and can of gasoline — had shot a television and set a table ablaze. Mr. Albayalde said the gunman shot a television set and set fires but did not shoot any people, indicating his intent was not to kill anyone and that he was not a terrorist.
Ronald dela Rosa, director general of the national police, said his officers exchanged fire with the gunman early Friday as he hid inside the hotel. The gunman was found dead. “He could have inflicted maximum casualties but he did not,” Mr. Albayalde said.
Mr. dela Rosa also said it was clear he was not a terrorist and instead possibly a “sore loser.” The authorities said not say why it took so long for so many bodies to be found, and what had gone wrong in the investigation. Officials would only deny that the police response was slow and say they arrived at the scene within minutes.
“As of now the situation is going back to normal,” he said. “We’ve cleared everything.” In the early hours of Friday, Ronald dela Rosa, the director general of the national police, had said “We’ve cleared everything” and “As of now the situation is going back to normal.” And Stephen Reilly, chief operating officer of Resorts World Manila, said all guests had been accounted for and were safe.
Mr. dela Rosa’s description punctuated a cascade of confusing and sometimes contradictory accounts of what had unfolded at the casino hotel in the Pasay City neighborhood of the Philippine capital, just across from the international airport, starting just after midnight. But at least one employee of the complex, however, appeared to be missing in the early hours after a plume of smoke had been seen pouring from the casino.
It came against the backdrop of a nation on edge because of a resurgent Islamist militant insurgency in the south, where President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law last week and said terrorist attacks were a possibility.
Early accounts on Twitter and in local media said gunmen may have stormed the casino hotel, and the sound of gunfire and explosions were heard. Patrons fled, and gray smoke was billowing from the building more than three hours later.
The police sealed off the area and the casino hotel was placed in lockdown as officers searched the complex.
Pleas by the police not to spread rumors via social media appeared to go largely ignored.
Mr. dela Rosa told reporters the terrorism angle made no sense considering the gunman’s behavior.
“In fact, he passed by people,” the chief said describing video recordings of the gunman taken inside. “He didn’t mind them. He was carrying a liter of gasoline, set the table on fire. Maybe he’s mad at gambling. Why did he steal the chips? Maybe he’s a sore loser.”
“It’s too early to tell, but so far as far as we are concerned there was no indication that it was ISIS,” added Mr. dela Rosa, using an acronym for the Islamic State. “If he were, he would have mowed down those gambling or exploded a bomb.”
Stephen Reilly, chief operating officer of Resorts World Manila, said all guests had been accounted for and were safe.
At least one employee of the casino hotel, however, appeared to be missing.
“Where is my daughter? I haven’t heard from her. Where is she?” Gil Emyongco, the father of Hazel Emyongco, a 29-year-old table supervisor, asked the police and witnesses gathered outside. He said he had been waiting for her to exit for more than five hours, but had yet to see her.“Where is my daughter? I haven’t heard from her. Where is she?” Gil Emyongco, the father of Hazel Emyongco, a 29-year-old table supervisor, asked the police and witnesses gathered outside. He said he had been waiting for her to exit for more than five hours, but had yet to see her.
Another woman, who fled the casino hotel hours after the ordeal began, passed out on the sidewalk soon after making it outside. When the police first rushed to the hotel, in the Pasay City neighborhood near the international airport, there were fears that it was under a terrorist attack. Patrons jumped off balconies and fled as police officers with bomb-sniffing dogs searched Resorts World Manila complex for armed attackers early Friday.
Mr. Apolonio said that as the police chased the gunman through the hotel, he doused himself with gasoline, set himself afire and shot himself in the head. His identity was not released, though the police said he was a foreigner and Caucasian.
“Apparently he’s mentally disturbed,” Mr. Albayalde said of the gunman later on Friday. “That’s why we cannot relate it to terrorism, because he didn’t shoot anyone. He just went inside, burned the dining tables, shot at the door knob” of a storage room where chips are kept. Mr. Albayalde said the gunman stole a large quantity of casino chips.
At least 25 people were injured and taken to hospitals, a spokesman for the Pasay Chapter of the Philippine Red Cross was quoted as saying by The Manila Times. Some of the wounded were injured jumping from the hotel’s second-floor balconies to escape, the spokesman, Fernando Atienza, was quoted as saying.At least 25 people were injured and taken to hospitals, a spokesman for the Pasay Chapter of the Philippine Red Cross was quoted as saying by The Manila Times. Some of the wounded were injured jumping from the hotel’s second-floor balconies to escape, the spokesman, Fernando Atienza, was quoted as saying.
At an earlier news conference earlier on Friday. Mr. dela Rosa said the gunman was possibly a “sore loser.”
But Sidney Jones, an analyst at the Human Rights Resource Center in Jakarta, Indonesia, said that authorities in Manila have a history of downplaying the presence of the Islamic State in the Philippines.
Rita Katz, director of the Site Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist propaganda, wrote on Twitter earlier on Friday that a Filipino operative of the Islamic State had said “lone wolf soldiers” were responsible.
As fire burned and people fled the casino, rumors spread at the scene, and on social media.
“Many people were running out of the resort,” said Manuel Reyes, 25, an employee at the nearby Remington Hotel. “There were also gunshots fired. We thought that it was ordinary crime. But we are hearing from the responding policemen that armed men attacked the hotel.”“Many people were running out of the resort,” said Manuel Reyes, 25, an employee at the nearby Remington Hotel. “There were also gunshots fired. We thought that it was ordinary crime. But we are hearing from the responding policemen that armed men attacked the hotel.”
Mr. Reyes said he had helped two women run from the hotel, before going back to assist an older man.Mr. Reyes said he had helped two women run from the hotel, before going back to assist an older man.
“The man told me, ‘Please help. There are many armed men inside.’ At that point I realized it was more than just an ordinary emergency.”“The man told me, ‘Please help. There are many armed men inside.’ At that point I realized it was more than just an ordinary emergency.”
In a statement, Kim Molitas, a spokeswoman for the National Capitol Regional Police, implored residents not to share information about the casino hotel on social media, asking locals to “help keep people inside Resorts World and our police safe.” Kim Molitas, a spokeswoman for the National Capitol Regional Police, had implored residents not to share information about the casino hotel on social media, asking locals to “help keep people inside Resorts World and our police safe.”
Although there was no confirmation of who was behind the attack, President Trump described it as an act of terrorism. The confusion and contradictory accounts of what happened unfolded against the backdrop of a nation on edge because of a resurgent Islamist militant insurgency in the south, where President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law last week and said terrorist attacks were a possibility.
“It’s really very sad about what’s going on throughout the world with terror,” Mr. Trump said at the start of his news conference at the White House on withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate-change agreement. Since last month, the country’s military has been locked in a battle against Islamist groups allied with the Islamic State on the restive southern island of Mindanao.
Rita Katz, director of the Site Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist propaganda, wrote on Twitter that a Filipino operative of the Islamic State had said “lone wolf soldiers” were responsible.
Since May, the country’s military has been locked in a battle against Islamist groups allied with the Islamic State on the restive southern island of Mindanao.
That fighting has been centered on the city of Marawi, where thousands of residents have fled amid the mayhem. Clashes escalated last week between the security forces and members of the Abu Sayyaf extremist group who have aligned themselves with the Islamic State.
The military advanced into Marawi after having received reports that Isnilon Hapilon, an Abu Sayyaf leader who has declared fealty to the Islamic State, had been spotted in the area.