Philippines: More than 100 injured in factory fire

A photo of the fire (Source: AP)

Hanoi (VNA) - More than 100 workers, including three Japanese, were injured and at least three were missing in a fire that hit a huge factory 26km south of Manila, said Philippine authorities on February 2.

The fire also sent thousands of employees scampering to safety.

The incident occurred at a three-story factory specializing in pre-fabricated house parts for export to Japan, located in a special economic zone in General Trias of Cavite province.

The fire is believed to start in a section where a machine used to create house insulation materials overheated.

About 5,000 workers were on duty when the fire struck. Some people jumped from windows to escape. Among the injured, 10 people were in critical condition.

The fire was under control after nearly 18 hours but has not been fully extinguished, according to Philippine officials. Fire fighters hope to enter and inspect the factory on late of February 2.

In 2015, a fire that rapidly spread in a rubber slipper factory in a northern Manila suburb killed 72 people, prompting then President Benigno Aquino III to order a thorough inspection of some 300,000 factories in metropolitan Manila. It was one of the worst blazes in the country after a 1996 disco fire that killed 162 people in Manila.-VNA