MANILA - A group of employees in the local business process outsourcing (BPO) industry on Sunday called for justice for the victims of the NCCC Mall fire in Davao City.
In a statetement, BPO Industry Employees Network mourned the call center agents who were trapped in the burning building on Saturday.
"Ultimately, we demand justice and accountability for yet another tragedy that afflicted workers and their families. We have seen too many similar man-made disasters to our fellow workers in the Philippines alone -- the Kentex fire in 2015 and the HTI fire earlier this 2017 to name a few," the statement read.
The group was referring to the House Technologies Industries (HTI) blaze in February, which left at least 2 dead and hundreds injured, and the Kentex factory fire in May 2015 that killed 74 people.
The blaze in Davao City started at about 9:35 a.m. Saturday on the mall's third floor, trapping employees of SSI call center in their fourth-floor office.
The group also questioned the BPO company's compliance with occupational safety standards and called for an investigation into the incident.
"Individual witnesses in social media alleged that the building had locked out fire exits, no fire drills and (that the) building was made of sub-standard materials," it said.
Of the 37 people feared dead, one body has been recovered according to Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.