1 killed, 1 injured in Navotas fire

A man died of a heart attack while another fractured his arm when a two-hour fire destroyed at least 100 houses in a densely populated area in the coastal town of Navotas on Saturday.

Moises Toquero, in his early 50s, of Miguel street, North Bay Boulevard North, was declared dead on arrival at the Tondo General Hospital. Christopher Lansangan, 24, who sustained a broken left arm, was also brought to the same hospital for treatment.

Arson investigator Fire Officer 3 Domingo Gastelo said that the fire started at the second floor of a two-story house on Miguel street occupied by one Victor de la Cruz at around 11:25 p.m.

The fire rapidly engulfed De la Cruz’s house which was built mostly of light materials and spread to adjacent structures.

Firefighters from the Navotas Bureau of Fire Protection and its neighboring localities desperately battled the blaze which reached Task Force Charlie and put it under control at around 1:45 a.m.

According to Gastelo, Toquero suffered a heart attack at the height of the blaze while Lansangan broke his arm as he fell to the ground trying to flee from the fire.

"Toquero could be so anxious seeing his house being devoured by the fire. So he suffered a heart attack," Gastelo said.

While the Navotas BFP is still trying to determine the cause of the fire, sources said that a lighted candle allegedly used by a group of unidentified men in a shabu session inside De la Cruz’s residence started the conflagration.

Gastelo said De la Cruz, 30, is now undergoing tactical interrogation at the office of the Navotas BFP.