Looters pillaging a shantytown in Manila, Philippines that had been hit by a deadly fire. Their actions distrupted firefighters attempting to contain the blaze which consumed 30 houses. PHOTO: REUTERS

MANILA: Looters mobbed a deadly slum fire in the Philippine capital yesterday, pulling roofing sheets and electric wire from singed homes as firemen scrambled to contain the blaze. Riot police surrounded the White Rock Island shantytown at Manila’s port area after being summoned by firemen who struggled to reach burning homes accessible only through narrow alleys that were swarmed by residents as well as scavengers.

An AFP photographer saw about 100 people, most of them men, engaged in tug of wars over electricity cables that had been pulled from still burning shanties. They also fought over metal roofing sheets that were bent out of shape by the intense flame, which they hauled off using improvised wooden carts. “These are informal settlers trying to make a buck out of salvaged materials,” Aljeph Lorenzo, one of dozens of firemen who responded to the fire alarm said. “This happens all the time whenever a slum is struck by fire.