Photos courtesy of different news organizations.

Manila police investigators are now probing if the 400-year-old image of Sto. Niño at the Santo Niño de Pandacan Parish in Pandacan, Manila was stolen or consumed by the fire after the church went ablaze on Friday afternoon.

Authorities said the Pandacan Church fire reached the third alarm at past 1 p.m.

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) has yet to determine the exact cause of the fire.

Authorities said it may have started due to electrical wiring or an appliance left behind.

The parish staff were on a break while the priest was outside before the incident happened.

After local authorities made their way inside the burning structure, police, firefighters and some residents assisted in retrieving the Nazarene image which was also consumed by fire.

It seemed as if the Nazarene’s skin was peeled off after it caught fire, while the inside of the parish was completely engulfed.

The altar collapsed, no pews were left, and images of saints also got burned.

The fire started at the back portion of the second floor of the church.

Before the fire incident, a baptism was held at 11 a.m.