Police investigating a deadly blaze at a department store in the Philippines on Christmas Day say the store was illegally selling fireworks and emergency exits from the building had been padlocked.
 
Twenty-four people died in the blaze in the Unitop Commercial Store in Omoc city, about 550 kilometers southeast of the Philippine capital, Manila.
 
Police Chief Superintendent Eliseo dela Paz said people who were near the main entrance to the store managed to escape but others were trapped and forced to retreat into a bathroom, where 23 charred remains were found.
 
One other victim died overnight in hospital from injuries caused by the fire.
 
 
Dela Paz said the exit door in the back of the store was padlocked, blocking the escape route.
 
Crackdown
He said the store did not have a permit to sell fireworks and that police had recently launched a crackdown on dealers selling fireworks inside malls and stores in order to prevent accidents.
 
"But they put up some displays in the afternoon," dela Paz told The Associated Press. "Apparently that's where the fire started."
 
He said police were looking for the owner but could not locate him.
 
Firefighters took more than three hours to bring the blaze under control. It is not yet clear what sparked the fire.
 
Firecrackers and other pyrotechnics are extremely popular during the Christmas holiday period in the predominantly Christian Philippines.
 
However, safety measures are often ignored and accidents involving cheap, poorly-made and improperly stored fireworks are common.

Photo Caption

The map of the Philippines