Gunman torches Philippine casino

Dozens dead

MANILA: A masked gunman set fire to a gaming room at a casino in the Philippine capital on Friday, igniting a toxic blaze that killed 37 people, authorities said.

The Islamic State group said its "fighters" carried out the attack, although Manila has repeatedly insisted the incident was not terror related.

The dead suffocated inside one of the main gambling venues of the upscale Resorts World Manila, while dozens of other people were injured in a panicked crush to escape, police said.

The gunman committed suicide inside a hotel room by burning himself about five hours after storming the casino with an M4 assault rifle and a bottle of petrol that he used to start the fire, police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said.

Dela Rosa and other police chiefs insisted the assailant was not carrying out a terrorist attack, pointing out he did not shoot anyone, and said it appeared to be a bizarre robbery attempt by a "deranged" man.

"This is not an act of terror. There is no element of violence, threat or intimidation that leads to terrorism," Dela Rosa told reporters.

However, 37 people died from inhaling smoke from a fire that spread quickly because of flammable carpet on the gaming room floors, local police chief Tomas Apolinario told AFP. Four of the victims were from Taiwan, according to the Taiwanese government.

The gunman initially disappeared into the chaos of smoke and running people, leading to a five-hour manhunt through the complex, which also includes a hotel and shops, according to Dela Rosa. He said the assailant, who appeared to be a foreigner because he spoke English and looked caucasian, was found just before dawn in a hotel room having committed suicide.