1 dead, 2 hurt in Marikina blaze

A four-year-old girl died while her two siblings suffered severe burns when their shanty in Marikina City was hit by fire while they were sleeping yesterday.

Police identified the fatality as Jonalyn Borbon, a resident of 221 Champaca 2, Barangay Parang. She died while being receiving treatment at the Amang Rodriguez Medical Center.

Her two siblings, identified as Buboy, 3, and William, 2, are now in critical condition at the East Avenue Medical Center burn unit.

Investigation by the Marikina fire station said the cause of the blaze could be a candle that upturned and set on fire a blanket covering the children.

The children’s mother Estrelita, 42, said she left the children sleeping soundly in their house at around 12:10 a.m. to buy something from a neighborhood store. She was horrified when she saw smoke coming out of their house and heard the screams of her children.

Neighbors helped to quell the fire and recover the children from the charred home. – Rainier Allan Ronda