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| Hours After Fires, 36 Bodies Are Found at Manila Casino | Hours After Fires, 36 Bodies Are Found at Manila Casino |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |
| Mr. Albayalde said the gunman shot a television set and set fires but did not shoot any people, indicating that he did not intend to kill anyone and was not a terrorist. | |
| “He could have inflicted maximum casualties, but he did not,” Mr. Albayalde said. | |
| The authorities said not say why it took so long for so many bodies to be found. Officials denied that the police response was slow and said they arrived at the scene within minutes. | |
| 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, the chief operating officer of Resorts World Manila, said all guests had been accounted for and were safe. | |
| 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. | 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. |
| “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. | |
| 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 the 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. | 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, asserting that he avoided shooting people as he burned the dining tables and fired at the doorknob of 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 Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict in Jakarta, Indonesia, said that the authorities in Manila had a history of playing down 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. | 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.” |
| 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.” | 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.” |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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. | 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. |