Fire struck the third floor of a shopping mall in Cebu City Friday evening and continues to engulf the building as of Saturday, an officer of the Bureau of Fire said.

Fire Officer (FO1) Grace Carolina of BFP in Cebu told the Daily Manila Shimbun in a phone interview, "The scene of fire is located at the Metro Ayala Mall at Cebu Business Park in Cebu City."

"This was reported around 9:44 pm yesterday (Friday)," added Carolina.

She said the BFP raised the alarm to Task Force Alpha around 10:51 pm and upgraded it to Task Force Bravo around 8:45 am Saturday.

Carolina said based on an initial report the fire started at the department store area of the mall which is located at the third floor of the five-storey building.

She also noted that the fire has spread to the other floors of the department store from first up to the fourth floors.

Carolina admitted fire fighters are having difficulties in controlling the blaze because of their limited equipment. “Because the area is confined, meaning the smoke cannot go out of the building and we only have limited Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA),” she said. Robina Asido/DMS