Mother, 6 children die in Tacloban tent city fire

(Updated 8:40 p.m.) A mother and her six children died after a fire hit their tent in Yolanda-devastated Tacloban City in Leyte at midnight Tuesday, Mayor Alfred Romualdez said Wednesday.

Five children died on the spot, according to the report on radio dzBB.

A report on "24 Oras" on Wednesday night said the sixth child who was initially in critical condition eventually died.

"Na-rescue initially was a mother and six children. Unfortunately the latest report is that five children have died, and the mother just died a few minutes ago," Romualdez told dzBB.

A police spot report identified the fatalities as Maria Eliza Ocenar, 23; Cathleen, 12; Justine, 9; Mark, 7; Jasmine Claire, 5; Jovelyn, 3; and Jackylyn, 4 months.

Chief Superintendent Henry Losanes, Police Regional Office-8 chief, said the family's patriarch was in Samar when the incident occurred.

"Tent cities"

Several families affected by super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) are staying in so-called tent cities in areas affected by the killer cyclone.

Figures from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council as of April 3 showed Yolanda left 6,293 people dead, 28,669 injured and 1,061 still missing.

The NDRRMC said Yolanda affected 3,424,593 families or 16,078,181 people in 12,139 barangays in 44 provinces, 591 towns and 57 cities.

It added Yolanda caused P39,821,497,852.17 in damages, including P19,559,379,136.11 in infrastructure and P20,262,118,716.06 in agriculture.

Cause of fire

Romualdez cited initial information reaching him indicating the fire occurred in Barangay San Jose in Tacloban at about midnight Tuesday.

He said arson investigators are verifying information a stove caused the fire. He said the tent was one of those donated by the United Nations.

Also, he said they are now looking for the patriarch. — Joel Locsin /LBG/KBK, GMA News