World | Philippines
Blaze kills 16 near shantytown in central Philippines
Bacolod Mayor believes toll may be higher
- By Barbara Mae Dacanay, Bureau Chief
- Published: 00:00 November 3, 2009
- Image Credit: AP
- Bodies in tight embrace were pulled from the debris of the building that caved in during the three-hour fire that began at one in the morning in Bacolod, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said in a radio interview.
Manila: Sixteen people were killed, 20 others wounded and 60 shanties destroyed by a fire that initially gutted a two-storey house yesterday at dawn in central Philippines, a radio report said.
Bodies in tight embrace were pulled from the debris of the building that caved in during the three-hour fire that began at one in the morning in Bacolod, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said in a radio interview.
"I consoled a survivor who was crying and shouting because he was saved by jumping out of a window, but his wife and child hesitated and soon were lapped up by a raging fire that ended at three in the morning," said Leonardia, adding the number of fatalities might still rise.
Many of the victims were sleeping when the incident happened, said Leonardia.
Nearby shanties were all destroyed, damaging a major slum area in Bacolod, said Leonardia. He added that well-off slum dwellers often rent out their space which are made of light materials, and without the approval of local government officials.
Because of power outage, someone placed a candle in the comfort room of the boarding house whose owner was identified as Morita Depakakibo, said Leonardia who quoted an initial investigation report.
Leonardia said bodies were recovered only at nine in the morning.
Friends who recognised some identified items from the recovered bodies, could not give full names of those who perished in the fire, said Leonardia.
The boarding house catered to traders who supplied goods in a nearby public market.
Black bags full of bodies lined up the street as local government workers continued clearing the debris from the slum area.
Leonardia said a full blown investigation started yesterday.
Damage was placed at 2.5 million pesos (Dh192,877).
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