3 killed in Maguindanao fire

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Three ethnic Maguindanaon villagers were killed in a fire that razed 130 houses in Taviran District in Datu Odin Sinsuat town at dawn Wednesday.

The fatalities were identified as Baileng Benito, 23, and her siblings, Baikulot, 17, and Baisheka, of lower Taviran in the northwest of Datu Odin Sinsuat.

Inspector Datu Tulon Pinguiaman, chief of the Datu Odin Sinsuat police, said there were indications that an accident caused the dawn fire that razed the house of the Benitos.

Residents of Lower Taviran area have been using kerosene lamps for months now due to recurring outages due to lack of power supply from the National Power Corporation to the Maguindanao Electric Cooperative.

Pinguiaman said the fire started at the victims’ house and spread to adjoining houses of their neighbors.