A statue of the Jollibee mascot managed to survive a two-day fire at a shopping mall in the Philippines, with a startling photo showing it standing completely unscathed - and still smiling - among the ashes of the fast food restaurant.
The Filipino chain is known for its beloved mascot of a smiling anthropomorphic bee - a jolly bee, if you will - which is often immortalised in the form of statues that greet customers at restaurant entrances.
Sadly, one such statue at the Gaisano Grand Mall in San Jose De Buenavista, Antique, got caught in a huge fire that engulfed the shopping centre last Thursday (17 June).
According to the Philippine News Agency, initial investigations showed that 57 individual units within the mall were destroyed, creating PHP80 million (£1.17m/$1.64m) worth of damage.
Amazingly, however, the mascot inside the mall's Jollibee restaurant made it through the blaze, and could be seen in a now-viral photo standing among scorched rubble without even a scratch, smiling away with its thumbs up.
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The snap was posted on Facebook by Jo Olivz, who wrote: "Jollibee lang sakalam," which translates as: "Jollibee is strong."
Since being posted last Friday, the image has racked up 2,000 likes and 2,700 shares.
According to The Philippine News Agency, the Bureau of Fire Protection Antique said the fire was declared out at 12.15pm on Saturday.
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Marshal Randy Pudadera said: "We have declared the fire out since there was no more ember and the heat had already cooled down inside the mall."
The Bureau of Fire Protection's central office is expected to send inspectors from Manila to help in the investigation, Pudadera added.
Recently, a Jollibee customer claimed she was served a 'deep fried towel' instead of the chicken she had ordered for her son, saying what she received was 'really disturbing'.
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Alique Perez wrote on Facebook: "We had Jollibee delivered via grab. Ordered chicken for my son, while I was trying to get him a bite, I found it super hard to even slice. Tried opening it up with my hands and to my surprise a deep fried towel.
"This is really disturbing... How the hell do you get the towel in the batter and even fry it!?!?"
She went on to add: "I really thought that the post complaining about weird stuff in their orders were just all made up, now I know that it really happens!
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"So disgusting and embarrassing... to think that you're even branched in BGC [Bonifacio Global City]. There's a first for everything. And this has been the worst first! Calming myself down for this... But WTH."
In a statement made public, Jollibee said that it had been forced to close the branch for three days from 3 June in order to 'review its compliance with procedures' and 'retrain its store team'.
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In a statement to LADbible, Jollibee Europe added: "We want to clearly state that this is an isolated incident in one store in the Philippines. At Jollibee, we uphold and follow strict food, safety and quality guidelines. The team in the Philippines are investigating the situation and taking appropriate action."
Featured Image Credit: PA
Topics: World News, News, Fire, Philippines