4 die in Taguig fire

MANILA, Philippines - Four people – including two children – died in an hour-long fire that hit a residential area in Barangay Pinagsama, Taguig City on Sunday night.

The city fire station initially identified the fatalities as siblings Ma. Liely Janine Denna Hortilano, four, and Jayred Lance Hortilano, two; their cousin Michael Hortilano, 22; and their neighbor Marcos Benito, 44.

The fire only reached first alarm, the lowest of a five-level alert, but the Hortilanos were reportedly trapped. Benito tried to save the children but died after failing to get out of the house.

The Hortilanos’ grandfather, Tirso, 67, was hurt and taken to the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital for treatment.

The victims were in the house owned by the children’s mother, Lannie, along M.H. del Pilar street when the fire broke out at around 5:35 p.m.

The children rushed to a room on the second floor of the house. They died of suffocation. Michael, meanwhile, ran into a bathroom and hid in a plastic drum that later burned because of the heat.

The blaze was put out at around 6:25 p.m. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause and origin of the fire. Total damage to property was pegged at P200,000.

Ronnie Audije, director of the city social welfare office’s special project and disaster operation, said the victims’ relatives will receive P15,000 for each victim as burial assistance.