Ma, child killed in Pasig fire

MANILA, Philippines – A woman and her child were burned beyond recognition while her brother sustained third-degree burns when a fire of unknown origin razed their rented apartment in Pasig City yesterday.

Joceline Enriquez, 30, and five-year-old Francine Nicole Palo were sound asleep when a fire broke out at their apartment along Dr. Sixto Antonio Avenue in Barangay Maybunga at about 4 a.m.

Arson investigators said Joceline’s brother, Dexter Enriquez, 40, managed to get out of the house before the fire razed his room. He is being treated at a hospital for third-degree burns.

According to probers, strong winds spread the fire to four adjacent apartments. Residents, including barangay officials, tried to put out the blaze with pails of water but failed. Firefighters put it under control an hour later.

Chief Inspector Roy Quisto, head of the Pasig City Bureau of Fire Protection, said the totally charred bodies of the victims were found in the razed apartment.

Quisto said they are still determining the cause of the fire that damaged property estimated at millions of pesos.