Arson indicated in RP hotel fire

Arson indicated in RP hotel fire

COTABATO, Philippines (AFP): Police said yesterday they had uncovered evidence pointing to "arson or sabotage" as the cause of a hotel fire which killed 24 people in this southern city last weekend.

A fierce predawn blaze gutted the upper three floors of the Imperial Hotel on Saturday, killing 24 people including six members of the former separatist guerrilla group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Fifteen others were injured.

The MILF, a Moslem guerrilla group holding peace talks with the government, denied any involvement in the fire yesterday.

Police said fire investigators found a petroleum canister in room number 305 of the six-story building, designated by management as the Islamic prayer room, and another in room 319.

The two-hour blaze struck a day before the scheduled arrival here of Moslem autonomous region governor Nur Misuari, the leader of the MNLF which signed a peace treaty with the government last year, ending a 24-year separatist guerrilla campaign.