Over 70 confirmed dead in Valenzuela factory fire

Bilang ng mga bangkay na narekober sa nasunog na warehouse sa Valenzuela, umakyat na sa 72, ayon kay F/Sr. Supt. Soriano Jr., BFP-NCR.

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) May 14, 2015
 
 

Soriano confirmed this an hour after Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gachalian was quoted in a tweet posted on dzBB's Allan Gatus Twitter account as saying that the number of bodies recovered rose to 55 as of 11:45 a.m.

Some 30 others were injured in the fire, but Gatchalian said, "Ito lang po 'yung mga lumapit sa amin."

Retrieval operations are still ongoing in the slipper warehouse that was destroyed by a fire that started Wednesday morning in Barangay Ugong. Various figures have been released since, since officials had to do a manual count by gathering relatives at a help desk outside the factory.

"We're apologizing if there are any discrepancy, but this is the best that we're doing," Gatchalian said during the press conference. "Kasi we'll have to understand, 'yung mga pamilya, minsan twice silang [nagpapa-register] -- minsan pupunta sa amin 'yung kapatid, tapos pupunta 'yung tatay..."

He added that some of the families of those believed to be inside the building during the incident, especially those who are not residents of Valenzuela City, opted to first go to other relatives and to hospitals to look for their loved ones.

Mayor Gachalian has set a 4 p.m. onsite press conferrence for more updates.

Forensic examiners