Fire in Philippine garment store kills 17 workers

An inferno at a three-story clothing store in the southern Philippines early Wednesday killed 17 employees, most of whom were women who were asleep and trapped on the top floor, officials said.

The fire in the Butuan city store broke out at 3:55 a.m. and raged for five hours. Firefighters and police scouring the gutted building found 17 bodies, said city police chief Pedro Obaldo. (AP)