3 Americans, 3 others die in Philippine hotel fire

MANILA (AP) - A fire swept through three adjacent hotels in a Philippine resort city on early Friday, killing three American retirees, one South Korean and two Filipino women, authorities said.

One of the Americans was trapped on a staircase and the two others died in separate rooms in Olongapo city, a former US naval base west of the capital Manila, said disaster response official Angelito Layug.

The blaze hit a row of the small hotel buildings that are located next to each other at 3 am local time and was put out three hours later, he said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, and it was not clear if anyone else was hurt.