4 dead, including a child, PWD in Malabon fire

Four individuals, including a child and a person with disability, died during a fire that reached the first alarm in Malabon on Thursday.

According to a "24 Oras" report by Bea Pinlac, the fire that occurred at Barangay Longos, Malabon at around 3 a.m. affected one family and six houses made of light materials.

“Paggising nalang namin, lumiliyab na. Nagtakbuhan na kami. Apat ang nawawala samin doon sa mga nakatira,” said victim Antonio Frias.

(When we woke up, the fire was already ablaze. We ran away. Four of those living in the house are missing.)

“Kumuha kami ng tuwalya tapos binasa namin kasi grabe na ‘yung apoy… Nagmumula sa taas tapos talagang pinilit na lang namin makalabas. Hindi ko alam na hindi pala sila nakasunod,” added victim Veronica Ortiz.

(We grabbed a towel and wet it because the fire was too much… It started from the top and then we just forced our way out. I didn’t know that they weren’t able to follow.)

The deceased victims included a 25-year-old mother, her 9-year-old child, and her two sisters.

“Yung apat na casualties, nasa likod, back portion sila ng residence nila kaya possibly na-trap sila sa isang kwarto. Nagsama-sama nalang sila roon,” said Bureau of Fire Protection Acting Chief of Operations SFO4 Armando Baldillo.

(The four casualties were at the back portion of the residence, which could be the reason that they were possibly trapped in one room. They just gathered there.)

Meanwhile, three persons were reported injured due to the incident.

The fire was active for almost 3 hours until it was completely declared fire out.

“Medyo natagalan dahil active pa ‘yung kuryente so nagre-request pa tayo noong time ngayon sa Meralco para ma-cut ‘yung power supply. Eskenita ‘yung dinaanan natin. Ang kagandahan lang na-confine siya ng firewall so isang compound lang ang nasunog niya,” Baldillo said.

(It took some time because the electricity line was active, so we requested time for Meralco to cut the power supply. We passed through an alleyway. The good thing was that it was confined by a firewall, so only one part of the compound got burned.)

The victims have now evacuated to the Barangay Hall. — Jiselle Anne Casucian/BAP, GMA Integrated News