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Resorts World Manila: At least 36 bodies found at casino complex | |
(35 minutes later) | |
At least 36 bodies have been recovered from a casino and hotel complex in the Philippines capital, Manila, where a lone gunman opened fire overnight. | |
Most of the dead appear to have suffocated after the man set fire to casino tables, local media reported. | |
The gunman began by shooting at TV monitors in Resorts World Manila in the early hours of Friday morning sending terrified patrons fleeing. | |
Police said he later killed himself by setting himself on fire. | Police said he later killed himself by setting himself on fire. |
The incident sparked a security lockdown and authorities initially said there were no casualties, but appear to have only found the bodies while sweeping the complex after the gunman's body was recovered. | |
Officials insisted that the incident was a robbery attempt, and was not terror-related despite an apparent claim by the so-called Islamic State group. | |
How did the attack unfold? | |
The man, who has yet to be named, entered the casino shortly after midnight and began shooting at television screens with an assault rifle, police say. | |
The shooting sparked widespread panic but police have repeatedly insisted that he did not appear to be shooting directly at patrons in the casino. | |
He also set gaming tables on fire and filled a backpack with gambling chips worth 113m Philippine pesos (£1.7m, $2.3m). | He also set gaming tables on fire and filled a backpack with gambling chips worth 113m Philippine pesos (£1.7m, $2.3m). |
The man later fled to the hotel section of the complex, leaving behind the backpack, and entered a hotel room. | The man later fled to the hotel section of the complex, leaving behind the backpack, and entered a hotel room. |
"He lay down on the bed, covered himself with a thick blanket, apparently poured petrol on the blanket and burned himself," national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said on Friday. | "He lay down on the bed, covered himself with a thick blanket, apparently poured petrol on the blanket and burned himself," national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said on Friday. |
The shooting sparked a security lockdown and a manhunt in the complex, which ended when his body was found. | |
Resorts World Manila said in a statement that the man also shot himself after setting himself on fire, and that he was found dead around 07:00 local time (23:00 Thursday GMT). | |
Who was the gunman? | |
Authorities have indicated that the man may have had mental health issues. | |
Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde told reporters that it was "a simple robbery and most likely it was done by a demented person". | |
Resorts World Manila has called the casino shooting a "cowardly act of a deranged mind". | |
Police have released CCTV photos of the man to local media, showing him dressed in black and carrying his rifle. | |
How did so many people die? | |
Police and fire authority officials have told various news outlets that many people appeared to have suffocated from thick smoke caused by the fire. | |
Those who escaped the casino have described the smoke that was filling the complex. | |
One woman told AFP that she had received a call from her daughter as the attack happened. | |
"Our daughter called us past midnight saying she was in the VIP section of the casino and there was smoke and they were suffocating," Gil Yongco said. | |
More than 50 people have been sent to a hospital to be treated for injuries. |