3 killed in Tawi-Tawi blaze

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Two infants and an elderly resident were killed in a fire that razed some 300 houses in a coastal community of Muslim tribal folk in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi Wednesday morning, the military said.

Thousands were rendered homeless in the blaze that broke out at around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in Barangay Kasanyangan, Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga chief of the Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command said.

Allaga cited initial investigation that faulty electrical connections to the rows of houses on stilts caused the fire.

Elements of Naval Task Force 62 tried to put out the fire and help the villagers but were hampered by the shallow waters.

The affected families are now housed at the Maharlika Elementary School in Bongao town.      – Roel Pareño