Dawn fire kills child

An eight-year-old child died while two of his four other siblings sustained second-degree burns when a fire razed their house in barangay Poblacion, Liloan town yesterday dawn.

SPO2 Rizalino Aligno of the Liloan Police identified the charred body as that of Jaddred Lanas. His brothers who sustained second-degree burns were Wesley, 9; and Wilkins, 14.

Investigation revealed that their parents were not around when the incident happened. Their mother, Geraldine, reportedly left the house early while their father, a seaman, is in Manila taking an upgrading course on seamanship.

Aligno said that an uncle woke up the victim's 17-year-old sister named Giselle. When the girl saw that fire already gutted up the house, she then woke her siblings up. In panic, the children reportedly scrambled out of the house while Giselle was left inside in an attempt to get Jaddred who was still asleep in his room. She, however, failed to get her brother out of the room because she herself was already having difficulty breathing.

SFO1 Salomeo Lozano of the Liloan Fire Station said he believes a lighted candle could have caused the fire. He said the fire spread quickly because the house was made of light materials.

The fire was reported at 1:45 a.m. and was controlled four minutes after. - Flor Z. Perolina