Without second guessing President Rodrigo Duterte, the head of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) allayed fears of a martial law in Metro Manila, saying that the Resorts World incident is isolated and not a terrorist act.
“This case is isolated and has nothing to do with any terror act that could probably be a reason for a declaration of martial law,” NCRPO Director Oscar Albayalde said on ANC.
Police said a lone suspect stormed the casino, opened fire and torched gaming tables. He also ransacked the casino’s chip storage.
His charred body was later discovered in one of the rooms of Maxims Hotel.
“Nagsunog po siya ng nagsunog ng gaming tables doon sa casino. Mabilis po ang kalat ng apoy doon sa casino area,” Albayalde said. (He set the gaming tables in the casino on fire. The fires spread fast in the casino area)
Witnesses, however, said the gunman did not act alone.
Police are now coordinating with the Land Transportation Office to determine the registered owner of vehicle–a Hyundai Tucson–that the suspect used.
“As of now, we cannot ascertain the identity of the gunman because there was no ID recovered from his body and we are looking at his vehicle right now. Probably he has an ID there,” he said.
Albayalde meanwhile could not yet give a firm response on the reports that over 30 bodies have been recovered inside the casino.
“I could not confirm as of this time that 34 were really victims of suffocation. Just before I left, there were 3 bodies that were recovered unconscious. They were brought to the hospital. I don’t know if they are dead or not,” he said.
Authorities are now conducting recovery operations inside the casino.
“Before I left, personnel from the Bureau of Fire told me that there could be more victims of suffocation in the area because the smoke was really thick,” he said.
At least 54 people were hurt in the incident.
Re-published from ABS-CBNNews
