DAVAO CITY – Fire rescue teams recovered one charred body inside the comfort room of the fourth floor of the New City Commercial Center (NCCC) Mall in Davao City on Sunday morning, where 37 call center agents of the Survey Sampling International (SSI) were reportedly trapped in a fire that hit the shopping mall on Saturday.
As of 8 a.m. December 24, authorities declared the fire under control, more than 24 hours after the blaze started around 9 a.m. Saturday.
The 36 other call center employees remained missing, however. The vice mayor of Davao, Paolo Duterte, said the chance of survival for any of the 37 people missing at the NCC Mall was “zero”.
“Let us pray for them,” said Duterte, the eldest son of President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a press conference, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, Paolo’s sister, said the City Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO) is still assessing the identity of the recovered body.
She said rescuers are doing their best to find the other missing persons trapped in the fire.
The mayor said there were 37 missing persons in the list of the CSSDO, while based on the master list of the SSI, there were 36 unaccounted employees of the call center company.
“As of 11:20 a.m., the personnel of Bureau of Fire and Protection continue their retrieval operation. They will not stop until they find the 36 there,” Duterte-Carpio said.
She said authorities were unable to enter the fourth floor of the four-story building due to the blaze, smoke, and scorching heat that could also endanger rescuers’ lives.
“They were just meters away from the SSI office, but they cannot enter because of the heat, they might just melt in there,” Duterte-Carpio said.
She assured the relatives of the fire victims of assistance from the city government. “The city will take care of the needs of the families,” she added.
The families have been transferred to the third floor of the JICA building while waiting for news about their loved ones.
The fire broke out on Saturday at a furniture store on the mall’s third level and quickly engulfed an outsourcing business on the upper floor, said a spokeswoman for the city government, Ma. Teresita Gaspan.
The cause was not known but an investigation was being launched, she said.
President Duterte and his daughter Sara visited the scene to meet anxious relatives of the missing and survivors.
Six people were rescued and taken to hospital.
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