At least 34 dead after casino robbery rampage in Manila, police say

MANILA. KAZINFORM At least 34 people died of suffocation during a robbery committed by an armed man in a southern Manila casino Thursday night, police said on Friday, according to EFE .

Most of the victims died of smoke inhalation after the suspect set fire to several gaming tables, while others suffered injuries during the stampede, said a fire department spokesperson, as reported by the ABS-CBN channel.

Police Superintendent Tomas Apolinario said the victims were found dead between the second and eighth floors of the Manila World Resort that houses a hotel, a movie theater, a casino and a shopping center, according to the Inquirer newspaper.

The attack took place at midnight on Wednesday when a man with an M4 carbine entered the second floor of the complex and began setting gambling tables on fire with gasoline, stealing casino chips and shooting.

At least 54 people were wounded, none of them seriously, in the stampede after they heard the first shots and from smoke intoxication, while police said that none were hit by the bullets.

National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa dismissed the incident as an act of terror and called it a robbery, despite the Islamic State (IS) claiming responsibility.

Dela Rosa told the media that the attacker did not shoot anyone and that if he were a terrorist, he would have spread terror.

The suspect's charred corpse was found on the fifth floor of the hotel.

Police said the man allegedly went inside room no. 501, wrapped himself in sheets sprayed with gasoline and set himself on fire, in what has been classified as suicide.

According to the official version, the motive of the assault was to take away a booty of 130 million Philippine pesos (about $2.6 million) in casino chips.

Authorities have tightened security at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, near the assaulted casino, Malacanang presidential Palace, embassies and ministries, among other sites in the Philippine capital.

The assault coincides with clashes between the Army and Maute group militants, linked to IS, in the southern city of Marawi that have been raging for 11 days as of Friday.

Fighting in that Muslim-majority city of Mindanao Island has caused more than 170 deaths, and local analysts say there is no hope of the clashes ending in the near future.