A massive fire tore through a shanty town and left thousands homeless in the Philippines capital Manila.

The blaze broke out in the slums of Isla Puting Bato - a squatter settlement that sits next to the heavily polluted Manila Bay - on the morning of November 24.

Terrified locals tied their belongings on makeshift rafts before plunging into the water to escape the raging fires.

The Philippine Air Force and Philippine Coast Guard dispatched helicopters and firefighting boats to dump water from Manila Bay. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said the alarm reached 'Task Force Charlie' which meant at least 30 fire trucks had been mobilised.

Fire Senior Inspector Alejandro Ramos of the BFP said: 'It was very difficult. First, there were so many people. Second, the houses were made of light flammable materials. The roads were also narrow.'

Firefighters said the sea breeze also helped fan the flames, adding access to the area was restricted by a high wall separating the slums from the Manila International Container Terminal.

Authorities said the fire caused some 3.5M PHP (47,150 GBP) after razing at least 1,000 homes - many of which were cobbled together with scrap metal sheets and wood.

The fire was extinguished at 4:07 pm local time. There were no immediate reports of casualties and the number of injuries was still being determined, the BFP said.

Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna said some 2,000 families were staying at the Delpan evacuation centre awaiting resettlement. She said in a statement: 'We will make sure the evacuees have cash aid, food and house reconstruction materials from our LGU, DSWD, and hopefully from other sources as well. We must come together to help the victims in their dire hour of need.

'We will see if there is a place other than Isla Puting Bato where they can resettle because that place is really not safe for them.'

Manila's Tondo district is among the most densely populated urban areas of the world, marked by poverty, informal settlements, and high crime rates. The overcrowded squatter settlements are filled with hovels made of wood and corrugated metal, exacerbating fire risks.

(1 GBP = 74.24 PHP)