At least three people are dead and as many as 35,000 have been left homeless in the wake of a massive fire which swept through a slum area of Manila, in the Philippines, on Monday.

SYNOPSIS: The blaze was the second serious fire to occur in a slum area of the capital in the past month. It came at time when an election campaign was under way during which the Government's New Society Movement was promising to upgrade housing for the thousands of slum dwellers in Manila.

It took firemen nine hours to get blaze under control, and it is estimated that it cost the city millions of dollars in damage. More than 40 people were reported injured in the fire, which officials believe was started by children playing with matches.