Manila: At least 37 bodies have been found at the Philippines casino attacked by a gunman, local TV has reported, quoting the Bureau of Fire Protection.
Many of those who were killed died of suffocation, according to the TV channel's fire protection sources.
Daesh has quickly claimed the spectacular attack as having been pulled off by a "lone-wolf" operative.
Watch: Dramatic video shows guests fleeing Manila casino
Local police said the main motive was robbery done possibly by a mentally deranged or despondent gambler.
"He looks Caucasian, he speaks English, so probably he's a foreigner," Manila police officer Oscar D Albayalde told the local media.
Philippine police know the attacker was a tall, English-speaking white man with a moustache. They know he carried an assault rifle, and that he used gasoline to start a casino fire that caused clouds of smoke that left at least dozens dead or injured in the sprawling entertainment complex in Manila.
Authorities suspect the man was trying to rob the casino at Resorts World Manila, a complex of hotels, restaurants, stores and a multi-floor gambling area.
He fled with more than $2 million in stolen casino chips, though he apparently threw them into a toilet soon after.
"Either he lost in the casino and wanted to recoup his losses or he went totally nuts," Metropolitan Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde said.
Latest developments:
Police: We have identified gunman, who brought petrol in a softdrink bottle
All indications point to a criminal act, said Manila police
Officials: We do not find any direct link to terrorist activity
Suspect looks Caucasian, speaks English and fired only at the door of the casino where chips were stored, said police. This handout of a screen grab from closed-circuit television footage on June 1, 2017 and released by the Southern Police District (SPD) on June 2, 2017 shows the suspected gunman at the fire exit of the Resorts World Hotel in Manila. A masked gunman set fire to a gaming room at a casino in the Philippine capital on June 2, igniting a toxic blaze that killed 37 people, authorities said, but they insisted it was not a terrorist attack. — AFP
Gunman in resorts World attack may be mentally disturbed, appears to be a foreigner, said police
Injuries of 54 people caused by stampede
Police said they are looking at a "person of interest" in connection with the attack. Tomas Apolinario, chief of Manila's southern police district, said the person was still alive and was believed to be a Philippine national.
It was initially feared the attack was terror-related, but Philippines police later said robbery was the likely motive.
Suspect set himself alight in resort hotel room, police said.
Only one suspect was involved in the incident, police said.
A janitor at the resort told a local TV station he saw a man armed with a high-powered automatic weapon and clad in black balaclava carrying out the attack.
A resort security guard told a local TV station that he saw several armed men carrying out the attack.
People jumped from windows to escape gunman who started firing in casino.
There were also reports of injuries as people pushed to get out of the building
On Friday, Philippine police said they were looking at a "person of interest" in connection with the attack at a casino resort in the capital, in which at least 37 people died and more than 70 were injured. The victims died due to suffocation after a gunman burst into the casino and fired shots and set fire to gaming tables. The gunman later committed suicide by setting himself alight, a presidential spokesman has said.
In Washington, President Donald Trump opened his Rose Garden ceremony about the Paris climate accord by saying “our thoughts and our prayers” are with those affected by the “terrorist attack in Manila.”
He said, “I would like to begin by addressing the terrorist attack in Manila.We're closely monitoring the situation and I will continue to give updates if anything happens during this period of time, but it is really very sad as to what is going on throughout the world with terror.
"Our thoughts and our prayers are with all of those affected.”
Though the US President called the incident a terror attack, Philippine authorities never said it was.
My thoughts & prayers go out to the people in #Manila, #Philippines
— Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) June 1, 2017
Meanwhile, the Resorts World Manila operator said they have set up a help desk for guests and relatives of guests.
A help desk has been set up at Career Hub 1, G/F NECC building. You may reach us at these hotline numbers: 0917-8728300 and 0917-8728756. pic.twitter.com/BVKtrOc8JT— Resorts World Manila (@rwmanila) June 2, 2017
National police chief Ronald Dela Rosa, in an interview with Manila-based news site Rappler, said the main motive was robbery, the gunman had acted alone and had killed himself.
Dela Rosa initially claimed police shot the assailant dead.
"The lone gunman is already neutralised. He is dead. He burned himself inside the hotel room," Dela Rosa told reporters outside.
"He lay down on the bed, covered himself with a thick blanket, apparently poured petrol on the blanket and burned himself."
Dela Rosa made the comments about an hour after claiming in a television interview that police had shot the gunman dead.
"He's dead. He was killed by our troops," Dela Rosa had told the GMA television network.
Dela Rosa did not explain to reporters why he initially claimed police killed the man.
The gunman had fired an automatic rifle inside the Resorts World Manila casino complex about midnight.
Dela Rosa said it was not a terrorist attack, rather likely a bungled robbery.
Referring to the resort’s CCTV footage, Dela Rosa told a Manila TV station that the suspect had set himself on fire inside room 510.
A Philippine television report said unidentified victims had died of suffocation. Another body was burnt but it was not clear if the body was that of the gunman, who police said earlier had set himself alight, the report said.
People ran screaming out of Resorts World Manila, which is across a road from one of the main terminals of the Philippines’ international airport, after the man fired what police chief Ronald dela Rosa said was an M4 assault rifle.
“There hasn’t been anyone shot... there are only injuries from people who tried to escape in a stampede or from smoke,” Dela Rosa said on DZMM radio.
Gasoline
Dela Rosa said the man, who appeared to be acting alone, walked into one of the gambling rooms and fired the rifle at a large television screen, then poured gasoline onto a gambling table and set it alight.
He said the man then fired again at a stock room containing gambling chips and filled a backpack with them.
The man left the room and went upstairs to a hotel section of the complex, according to dela Rosa.
Windows were smashed on the second floor of the complex just before daylight broke, but it was unclear why and by nearly 6:00 am police did not report any breakthrough in the hunt for the gunman.
Daesh immediately claimed responsibility.
Daesh said “lonewolf soldiers” from its group carried out the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group that monitors terrorist organisations.
But dela Rosa said: “We cannot attribute this to terrorism.”
He said it may have just have been an attempted robbery, pointing out the gunman tried to steal the gambling chips.
Terrified
People inside the casino recounted feelings of terror when the shooting occurred.
“Guests were screaming. We went to the basement locker room and hid there. People were screaming, guests and employees were in panic,” Maricel Navaro, an employee of Resorts World, told DZMM radio.
“When we smelled smoke, we decided to go for the exit in the carpark. That’s where we got out. Before we exited, we heard two gunshots and there was thick smoke on the ground floor.”
Outside the complex, relatives of people caught inside waited to hear news of their loved ones.
“Our daughter called us past midnight saying she was in the VIP section of the casino and there was smoke and they were suffocating,” Gil Yongco, 42, told AFP.
“We are very worried about her. We haven’t heard from her and she is not on the list of casualties. We want to know if she is still alive.”
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte imposed martial law last week across the southern region of Mindanao to crush what he said was a rising threat of Islamic State there.
He declared martial law shortly after militants went on a rampage through the southern city of Marawi, which is about 800 kilometres south of Manila.
Security forces are still battling the militants in Marawi, and the clashes there have left at least 171 people dead.
Martial law
Duterte said last week he may need to declare martial law across the rest of the country if the terrorism threat spread.
A Muslim separatist rebellion in the southern Philippines has killed more than 120,000 people since the 1970s.
The main Muslim rebel groups have signed accords with the government aimed at forging lasting peace, giving up their separatist ambitions in return for autonomy.
However a range of hardline militants groups have rejected the peace process and in recent years have sought to unite behind Daesh.
