Elderly couple killed, neighbor hurt in Malabon fire

MANILA, Philippines - An elderly couple died in a fire that was believed caused by a neglected kerosene lamp at a government housing project in Malabon City Monday night.

City Fire Marshal Chief Inspector Rodrigo Reyes said the bodies of Marcial Santos, 87, and his wife, Ramona Mallari-Santos, 86, were burned beyond recognition when they were found in their house on 2nd street in Barangay Tañong.

Their neighbor, Ferdinand Enriquez, 40, was parking his tricycle along the narrow street leading to the fire scene when a speeding firetruck of the Navotas Bureau of Fire Protection hit his tricycle. Enriquez sustained bruises on his right thigh and a laceration on his right hand.

Reyes said the fire also razed six other houses, rendering some 16 families homeless.

No other persons were reported injured or killed in the blaze. – Jerry Botial