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3 Killed in Fire at Philippine Hotel

Firemen battle a fire at the Manila Pavilion Hotel. (AP)
Firemen battle a fire at the Manila Pavilion Hotel. (AP)
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3 Killed in Fire at Philippine Hotel

Firemen battle a fire at the Manila Pavilion Hotel. (AP)
Firemen battle a fire at the Manila Pavilion Hotel. (AP)

Three people were killed on Sunday in a fire that broke out in a hotel in the Philippine capital, Manila.

Nearly two dozen people were injured in the blaze at the Manila Pavilion Hotel, said police and rescue officials.

The death toll had been reduced from four to three, said Johnny Yu, chief of the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.

"The smoke is very heavy and, second, there's the wind that we're trying to overcome," Yu said. "Our firefighters are having a lot of difficulty."

Two employees of a casino at the hotel were missing and rescue operations were ongoing, Manila Police District spokesman Erwin Margarejo told Reuters.

Police said it remains unclear if the fire at the hotel, which was still raging after seven hours, started in the casino in the lower floors or in an area of the hotel that was under renovation.

TV footage showed dark gray smoke billowing from the first and second floors of the hotel as rescuers brought people out of the building.

Police and firefighters blocked off the areas around the hotel, which lies in the heart of Manila's tourist district, to allow dozens of firetrucks to approach and help fight the blaze.

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4 Dead, Including 2 Children, in Latest Migrant Shipwreck Off Greek Island

Greek Coast Guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation following a shipwreck, where migrants drown off the island of Samos, Greece, November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sofianos Drapaniotis
Greek Coast Guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation following a shipwreck, where migrants drown off the island of Samos, Greece, November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sofianos Drapaniotis
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4 Dead, Including 2 Children, in Latest Migrant Shipwreck Off Greek Island

Greek Coast Guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation following a shipwreck, where migrants drown off the island of Samos, Greece, November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sofianos Drapaniotis
Greek Coast Guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation following a shipwreck, where migrants drown off the island of Samos, Greece, November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sofianos Drapaniotis

Four people, including two children, have died after a boat carrying migrants ran aground on a rocky shoreline on the eastern Greek island of Samos, officials said Thursday.
Sixteen people were rescued, but it remained unclear how many were aboard the boat. The Greek coast guard launched a search-and-rescue operation involving patrol vessels, lifeboats, and land teams to locate any potential missing passengers, The Associated Press reported.
A Greek government official said he expected the risk facing migrants to rise over the winter months, and blamed conflicts in the Middle East for a swell in illegal crossings this year.
The incident comes after eight migrants – six children and two women – died in a shipwreck off the island on Monday.
Samos and other Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea are key transit points for migrants crossing from Türkiye to the European Union, with arrivals in recent months that Greek authorities say is linked to ongoing wars in the Middle East and parts of Africa.
“The conditions are certainly not favorable,” Migration Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos told private Skai television Thursday.
“They do not tend towards reducing the flow of migrants, but rather increasing them – with all the geopolitical turmoil, especially in the Middle East, with ongoing wars and other issues,” he said.
Panagiotopoulos said he expected the risk of tragedies in the eastern Aegean to increase in the coming weeks as weather conditions worsen, and added that Greece will renew efforts to seek European Union funding for border wall construction under the next Polish presidency of the EU, which starts on Jan. 1.
Separately Thursday, police announced the arrest of nine people accused of operating a smuggling ring that allegedly provided migrants with false and illegally used documents to travel to western European cities.
The group, active since July, provided migrants with safe housing, clothing, and travel documents before escorting them to Athens International Airport, police said. Fees for those services ranged from 3,000 to 5,000 euros ($3,150-5,250).