Manila - Up to 17 people were feared dead after fire swept through a hospital in the Philippine capital before dawn today, trapping a group of patients under life support, officials said.
The Health Secretary, Ms Carmencita Reodica, said arson investigators were called in to determine whether the staterun Lung Centre of the Philippines was deliberately set on fire.
Flames and black smoke billowed out of one wing of the three-storey building in a northern suburb.