At least 90 workers were inside the Philippine Jewelry Cases Manufacturing Corp. and Bonita Shoes International located at the Republic Steel, Inc. Compound in Barangay Pamplona at the time of the incident but everybody was safely evacuated said arson investigator Senior Fire Officer 4 Regalado Manahan.
Manahan said the incident started at around 2:10 a.m. and originated at the jewelry cases factory owned by a certain Jocelyn Sia.
Witnesses said they heard a loud explosion coming from the electrical switch inside the factory’s flocking department. Fire quickly spread through the entire building and jumped to the neighboring shoe factory owned by one Yong Hwang Noh, the investigator added. – Nikko Dizon