Manila disco violated safety regulations<\/p>\n
MANILA (Agencies): Investigators found \"flagrant violations\"
\nof Philippine building and safety laws at a popular Manila disco
\nwhere 152 people died in a fire earlier this week, according to a
\npreliminary report issued yesterday.<\/p>\n
The report, by the Central Police District Command and the
\nBureau of Fire Protection, said the Ozone disco in Manila's
\nQuezon City district had \"flagrant violations ... which led to
\nconditions that made the nightspot into a deadly fire trap\".<\/p>\n
\"The Ozone disco had no fire exits. (It) had more than 300
\ncustomers and disco personnel inside a space originally intended,
\naccording to the building plans, for a maximum of 60 persons,\"
\nthe report, submitted to President Fidel Ramos, said.<\/p>\n
The blaze early on Tuesday killed 152 people and left scores
\nbadly burned.<\/p>\n
The report blamed five government officials for issuing the
\ndisco permits despite its violations of building safety laws.<\/p>\n
The latest tragedy in the disaster-prone Philippines has
\ncreated an uproar, with politicians and commentators demanding
\nthe government jail those responsible.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, police yesterday drew up criminal charges against
\nthe owners of the disco.<\/p>\n
\"They are now preparing the charges to be filed based on sworn
\nstatements, \" from the owners and survivors of the Ozone disco,\"
\nsaid Interior Department spokesman Jess Matubis.<\/p>\n
Senior Superintendent Hercules Cataluna was to submit the
\nstatements yesterday to government prosecutors who will determine
\nthe charges filed against the owners and \"others responsible,\"
\nMatubis told AFP.<\/p>\n
Eloisa Orolfo, a 16-year-old who suffered second and third-
\ndegree burns on 95 percent of her body died yesterday. She had
\nbeen on a respirator since Tuesday's disaster.<\/p>\n
\"Her burns and inhalation injuries were too much for her to
\nbear,\" Inocencio Oballo, a doctor at the East Avenue Medical
\nCenter said.<\/p>\n
Nineteen-year-old Michael Miranda is still fighting for his
\nlife at the hospital on a respirator.<\/p>\n
\"We are all saddened. But we are doing all we can to save
\nMichael,\" Oballo said.<\/p>\n
In the Manila district of Santa Ana, residents were to hold a
\nmemorial mass yesterday for 19 teenagers from their community who
\ndied in the Philippines worst fire disaster in 50 years.<\/p>\n
In the past two days, police and city officials have padlocked
\ndiscos and nightclubs around Manila found to have violated safety
\nand building codes.<\/p>\n
Matubis said four night clubs in Quezon City, where the Ozone
\nwas, and three in the northern suburb of Valenzuela had been
\nclosed.<\/p>\n
Press reports, quoting officials, say 18 nightclubs in the
\nsouthern suburb of Pasay were closed because they fire exits,
\nfire extinguishers and building and electrical permits.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/manila-disco-violated-safety-regulations-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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