At Least 149 Are Killed, Dozens Injured in Philippine Disco Fire

A fierce blaze tore through a discotheque packed with students celebrating graduation today. Officials confirmed that 149 people were killed and said there might be up to 50 more bodies in the charred ruins.

Dozens more were severely injured, many with third-degree burns.

When the fire broke out shortly after midnight, there were an estimated 350 people in the Ozone Disco Pub in suburban Quezon City, many of them taking part in high school and college graduation parties, survivors said.

“It was like hell,” said disc jockey Marvin Reyes, who watched flames catch the hair and clothes of screaming victims.

Bodies of people who had tried unsuccessfully to escape were piled waist-deep in a narrow corridor leading from the dance floor. Others were crushed beneath a collapsed mezzanine ceiling.

The wails of relatives searching for loved ones added to the chaos as firefighters put out the blaze. Rescuers soon accumulated the names of more than 100 people still missing from the disco.

“I tried to announce there was a fire, but the microphone stopped working,” Reyes said.

Fire Inspector Warlito Daus said the disco had no proper fire exit.

Quezon City Police Chief Hercules Cataluna said the fire was the Philippines’ worst. Radio reports said it started when a cooking fuel tank exploded.