Thirty-six individuals suffocated from smoke after a shooter
raged a casino-hotel in the Philippines and set fire to gambling tables, police
have said.
Metropolitan Manila police Chief Oscar Albayalde said none
of the bodies had shot injuries.
Authorities said before they believed robbery was the motive
in the assault at the Resorts World Manila, which sent people escaping into the
streets amid the night, with handfuls suffering minor wounds amid the stampede.
The suspect was discovered dead early on Friday, having
evidently committed suicide, and betting chips were also recovered.
The assault incited a claim of responsibility from the Isis
terror group, but police emphasize on they had no evidence to support it.
The violence unfolded as government forces were engaged in a
battling against Muslim militants aligned with Isis in the southern city of
Marawi.
"He would have shot all the people gambling there"
if it had been terrorism, national police chief Ronald dela Rosa said.
"But he did not hurt anyone."
"It's either he lost in the casino and wanted to recoup
his losses or he went totally nuts," Mr Albayalde said, adding he saw no
connection to the fighting in Marawi.
Mr dela Rosa said security footage demonstrated the shooter
ignoring a guard who attempted to question him at the entrance to the complex.
He didn't hurt the guard however went straight to the
gambling area.
The shooter stole gambling chips, shot up television screens
and set gambling tables on fire by pouring petroleum on them, Mr dela Rosa
said.
It was not clear how the shooter smuggled petroleum and an
assault rifle into the crowded casino, however he didn't fire at people he
encountered.
The only gunshot wound was to a guard at the complex, who
shot himself accidentally when the suspect went into the room, authorities
said.
Ronald Romualdo, a maintenance laborer at Resorts World,
said he and his colleagues heard shots and saw people smashing the windows on
the second floor and third floor to get away.
"We took out a ladder to save them. We were able to
save many of them," he said.
"But one woman I was trying to save fell from the
second floor. I could not carry her."
He said the woman was not moving afterwards, but he didn't
realize what happened to her.
Around a hour and a half after the assault started, Resorts
World Manila said on its Facebook page that it was on lockdown taking after
reports of gunfire and was attempting to guarantee the security of guests and
workers.
Mr dela Rosa said the shooter clearly barged into a room on
the fifth floor of the Maxims hotel associated with the mall and casino, where
he set himself on fire.
A bag of gambling chips worth 113 million pesos (£176,500)
was found in a can.
The suspect was English-talking yet had no identification
cards.
Mr dela Rosa portrayed him as "white, with a
mustache" and around 6ft.
He said the man's car in the complex car park was being
analyzed.
