A fire broke out late Thursday in a hotel in the Philippine capital, leaving one person dead and 27 injured, local and fire officials said. The fire started on the seventh floor of the Great Eastern Hotel in the Manila suburban city of Quezon. The cause, however, has not yet been determined, according to dpa. A male employee of the Department of Interior and Local Government, which was holding a seminar in the hotel, died after suffering serious injuries while escaping the fire. Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte said 20 people were also treated for minor injuries and smoke inhalation on the spot, while seven others had to be taken to hospital with various injuries. "The firemen have been to all the rooms and so far they have not found no one else trapped inside," he said. Rescuers said some of those taken to hospital suffered fractured legs after jumping off windows of the hotel. Some people were seen waving from the windows of the upper floors at the start of the fire alarm. Black, thick smoke billowed out of the seventh floor, hampering firemen who lacked breathing equipment as they moved to the upper floors of the hotel. -- SPA
