Philippine Disco Fire Kills 150, Leaves Dozens Severely Injured

Flames billowed through a discotheque packed with graduation revelers early today, sending them fleeing for a blocked exit and stampeding into narrow halls. Firefighters pulled the bodies of 150 people from the smoking ruins.

Dozens more were severely injured, many with third-degree burns. It was the worst fire in the Philippines and the worst in any nightclub since 1977, when 164 people died at the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Ky.

Fire officials initially feared that as many as 50 more bodies could be covered by the debris inside, but no more were found by midday.

“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.

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

Investigators later said the disco’s fire exit had been blocked by a new building next door.

Ismael Mathay, the mayor of Quezon City, ordered an investigation into why the disco was allowed to operate without an emergency exit.

Radio reports said the fire started when a cooking fuel tank exploded.