Gunman spreads panic at Philippines casino, robbery suspected - police

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Gunman spreads panic at Philippines casino, robbery suspected - police

By Peter Blaza and Clare Baldwin

REUTERS

 

Policemen stand guard near evacuated employees of a hotel near a situation at a Resorts World building, in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines June 2, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

 

MANILA (Reuters) - A gunman burst into a casino, fired shots and set gaming tables alight in the Philippine capital early on Friday, sowing panic in a country on high alert after martial law was declared in the south, but police said the motive was likely robbery.

 

National police chief Ronald dela Rosa told DZMM radio the lone gunman had not aimed his assault rifle at people at the Resorts World Manila entertainment complex, and may have been trying to steal casino chips.

 

Shots and loud bangs rang out shortly after midnight (1600 GMT) in the buildings close to Terminal Three of Ninoy Aquino International Airport and an air force base, prompting fears that a militant attack was under way.

 

Medical officials said at least 25 people were hurt, some seriously, as they rushed to escape.

 

"Don't panic, this is not a cause for alarm. We cannot attribute this to terrorism," police chief dela Rosa said.

 

"We are looking into a robbery angle because he did not hurt any people and went straight to the casino chips storage room. He parked at the second floor and barged into the casino, shooting large TV screens and poured gasoline on a table setting it on fire."

 

Police were in the complex searching for the gunman, whom dela Rosa described as "foreign-looking, a Caucasian, about six feet tall". The suspect may have escaped because smoke had obscured footage for CCTV cameras, he added.

 

A Reuters witness saw armed police entering a hotel near the complex. Videos posted earlier on social media showed people fleeing as several loud bangs were heard.

 

The local Pasay Chapter of the Philippine Red Cross said 25 people had been taken to hospital.

 

Jeri Ann Santiago, who works in the emergency room at the San Juan de Dios hospital, close to Resorts World, said 13 people were being treated, but more were on the way.

 

Most of the patients were suffering the effects of smoke inhalation and some had injuries such as fractures, she said, adding that none had gunshot wounds.

 

HEIGHTENED ALERT

 

The Philippines has been on heightened alert amid a crisis in the south of the country, where troops have been battling Islamist rebels since May 23. President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law on the southern island of Mindanao last week.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington was closely monitoring events unfolding in Manila. The U.S. embassy in Manila told Americans there to exercise caution and review their personal security.

 

As the drama unfolded, dozens of police trucks and a handful of huge Special Action Force vans and armoured personnel carriers lined side streets near the hotel, casino and shopping mall complex.

 

Gil Yonco, 54, stood weeping in the street at around 5 a.m. His daughter had been inside Resorts World on the second floor and called her father for help because she was getting suffocated by smoke.

 

He tried calling back but there was no answer. "I am very worried as a parent, I need to find her," he said.

 

A casino worker from the third floor of the complex, named Julio, told DZMM radio he heard many gunshots and saw people running up the stairs from the second floor.

 

Ronald Romualdo, a maintenance worker at Resorts World, told the station he saw a woman fall from an upper floor while trying to escape. "Several people were injured," he said.

 

Police chief dela Rosa said it was possible militant group Islamic State would claim responsibility for the incident for propaganda purposes.

 

President Duterte has said he fears Islamic State's "terrible ideology" will spread on Mindanao, an island of 22 million people, and has warned it could become a haven for supporters fleeing Iraq and Syria.

 

(Reporting by Peter Blaza and Clare Baldwin; Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales Karen Lema, Manuel Mogato, Enrico Dela Cruz and Martin Petty; Writing by Martin Petty and Alex Richardson; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt and Andrew Heavens)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-02

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Philippine TV says at least 34 bodies found at Manila casino resort

REUTERS

 

 

MANILA (Reuters) - At least 34 bodies were found at a casino resort in the Philippine capital after an attack by a gunman overnight and most of them had died of suffocation, the ANC news channel reported, quoting sources at the Bureau of Fire Protection.

 

Police said earlier the gunman's motive was likely robbery and that the incident was not terror-related. The gunman fired shots and set gaming tables alight, sparking panic at the resort.

 

(Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Paul Tait)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-02

 

 

[Stargeezr]

Don't forget people, there will always be thieves around the world, not all attacks are terrorists,

thankfully.  This attack sadly has killed a lot of people, and if it was just a robbery, now it is murder as

well.

Geezer

[RuamRudy]

If the tragic deaths are, indeed, the unintended consequences of a fire, then some serious questions needs to be asked of the developers. This complex is barely 2 years old and, supposedly, built to international standards.  

[kamahele]

A lot of bodies for an incident that is not related to terrorism. Are they positive?

[brianj1964]

Sky news say he torched himself later in a hotel

 

[swanny321]

    Could have been a hitman looking for Shabu dealers; or not as the case may be.

 

 

[LennyW]

Tragic, luckily i missed that by a few hours!! 

That is where we have breakfast and do some shopping when we stay at the Remmington, it is a beautiful place inside, or at least it was.

There is lots of exits on all levels and wide stairways so the fire must have spread at an incredible pace for all those poor souls to have died.

But another puzzling issue....all the entry points are very heavily guarded, 100% bag search, sniffer dogs and through the metal detectors before entry, same with the hotels in that area, it is a very secure area...so how the hell did he manage to get in there with a gun??

[RuamRudy]

1 hour ago, LennyW said:

Tragic, luckily i missed that by a few hours!! 

That is where we have breakfast and do some shopping when we stay at the Remmington, it is a beautiful place inside, or at least it was.

There is lots of exits on all levels and wide stairways so the fire must have spread at an incredible pace for all those poor souls to have died.

But another puzzling issue....all the entry points are very heavily guarded, 100% bag search, sniffer dogs and through the metal detectors before entry, same with the hotels in that area, it is a very secure area...so how the hell did he manage to get in there with a gun??

I had the same confusion - thr CCTV images of him showed he was carrying a massive gun that would surely be impossible to conceal?

 

I read that he had driven up to the 2nd floor of the carpark - I am assuming that is via the entrance close to Sales Rd & Villamor airforce base. If so, then the security entrance from the carpark is, if I recall correctly, close to the side entrance to the casino. Possibly he barged through both security checkpoints and, having walked around 20m from the parking area, was inside the casino?

[dabhand]

Read somewhere that the guy just waltzed past a guard with his gun without being stopped. Are the security at the entrances carrying guns? Would imagine there is a load of CCTV coverage that will show exactly what happened. Whether that ever gets shown remains to be seen - an appearance by Tiger would have guaranteed an early release.

 

Bit strange that it took so long for the bodies to be found, although reports were that most were located in a bathroom area and had been overcome with the smoke generated by the table / carpet fires. It was also claimed that the guy had placed a load of bullets within the areas he had set on fire - causing the bullets to explode and giving the appearance of shots being fired and making most folk stay low rather than make a run for it.

 

Could be that they needed to check the high-end stores first. Just like the Mall that was attacked in Nairobi a couple of years back that took days to clear............. 

[LennyW]

It does not make a whole lot of sense as a robbery, why the hell would you steal high value chips that can only be spent or exchanged in the place that you have just burned down???