Offering an alternative theory, the fire department told local media that the suspect had been a “longtime guest” at the casino hotel and suggested the motive may have been retaliation for losing significant gambling money. Later on Friday Isis claimed responsibility via its Amaq news agency. In the chaos and panic, people ran into the streets screaming “Isis, Isis”.Īs the fires were still raging, Donald Trump characterised the incident as a “terrorist attack”. Videos published online showed people fleeing as several loud bangs and the crack of gunfire is heard.

Initial fears were of a terrorist attack, in possible revenge for a military campaign against Islamic State sympathisers in the south. The smoke came from a fire started when a gunman set light to gasoline that he had poured on poker tables in the casino in Resorts World – a sprawling mall complex that also encompasses a Marriott hotel and luxury shops, five minutes’ walk from the capital’s international airport. “One woman I was trying to save fell from the second floor.” We were able to save many of them,” Ronald Romualdo, a maintenance worker who rushed over with a ladder said.

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