THREE agencies will investigate the NCCC Mall fire incident: a task force, an insurance investigator from the NCCC Mall, and a third-party private investigator. Mayor Sara Z. Duterte in a press conference yesterday said the city government of Davao is offering to shoulder the professional fees of the third-party investigator if the families of the fire victims so request. The Task Force will include the Bureau of Fire Protection, Department of Interior and Local Government, National Bureau of Investigation, and the city government of Davao. “It will be an interagency investigation and other offices of the government will be part of the task Force. The task Force will come up with a report and that will be the report about the fire,” Ms. Duterte said. Ms. Duterte also gave an update on the casualties, saying that of the 37 bodies recovered, one remained unidentified as of this writing. The family of Mikko Demafeliz, a call center agent of SSI, has already submitted a specimen for DNA testing, while members of the city government’s City Social Services and Development Office have visited the family of another SSI employee, Alexandra Moreno. “What I can say right now is we are continuously looking for the one missing SSI employee named Alexandra Moreno so if anyone has information about her whereabouts we would appreciate if they would immediately report to the city government of Davao or the Davao City Police Office,” Ms. Duterte said. The NCCC Mall management also confirmed yesterday the death of one of its employees, Melvin Gaa, a safety officer who had brought SSI employees to safety. Mall spokesperson Thea Padua said Mr. Gaa was a member of the NCCC Emergency Action Team (NEAT) who had helped rescue the 83 surviving SSI employees and an estimated 700 mall personnel and visitors. “Melvin had already brought down several SSI employees and was already seen having safely exited the building at the ground floor. But instead of remaining downstairs, he went upstairs again to try to save more people,” Ms. Padua said. — Maya M. Padillo
