Girl killed, 2 sisters hurt in Samboan fire

CEBU – One girl was killed while two others were injured, one of them critically, after they played with a lighter and burned a hut filled with dried animal feeds in barangay Galatagan, Samboan town last Thursday.

According to Samboan Police Station chief Sr. Insp. Marlon Gumabao, their mother, Gina Catubig, was nursing her newborn while her husband Emerito, a tuba gatherer, was working when the incident happened around 11 a.m.

Both parents were unaware that their three small daughters, with ages one, two and four, were playing with a lighter in a hut 10 meters away from their house.

Gina just noticed smoke coming from the hut and heard the screams of her daughters.

One-year-old Jenny was not quick enough to escape the fire that ate up the hut in less than 10 minutes. Two-year-old Ressel suffered first-degree burns while the eldest escaped unscathed.

In a year, fire officials said an average of five children are left alone and killed in fires. — Ferliza C. Contratista/BRP (THE FREEMAN)