Fire kills boy, injures three

CEBU, Philippines - Christmas vacation ended up a tragedy for the family of an eight-year-old boy who was trapped during a fire in Barangay Poblacion, Lapu-Lapu City Wednesday evening.

Chelmer Mangubat of Minglanilla was charred to death while three others were injured including his 15-year-old brother, a female relative and a fireman.

Cheryl Abing suffered first degree burns in her right arm and shoulder; Mark Mangubat also suffered first degree burns in both arms and shoulder; while FO1 Norman Alivio had his finger dislocated after falling off the roof while battling the fire.

The Mangubats were on Christmas vacation in Lapu-Lapu City to celebrate the season with their relatives. However, the two-storey ancestral house of the Mangubats at Dimataga St. was burned Wednesday night.

The fire alarm was reported past 11:00 p.m. it was declared under control two minutes later. But because the house was semi-concrete and was relatively old the fire was fast to spread.

There were 13 occupants in the house including the Magubat family. All of them except Chelmer were able to go out before the fire engulfed the whole house.

Chelmer’s father, Mark Anthony, tried to save his son after seeing the latter was calling out for help. However, the thick smoke prevented him from going back inside the house to save his son.

The family watched helplessly until the house was totally razed with the boy inside it. The fire department pegged the damage at P80,000.

Chelmer was immediately buried yesterday afternoon at the Lapu-Lapu City public cemetery in Barangay Humay-Humay. (FREEMAN)