Huge fire razes Philippine slum, three people killed
A huge blaze believed to have been ignited by firecrackers razed nearly a thousand shanties and killed one resident in a creekside slum in the Philippine capital
A huge blaze believed to have been ignited by firecrackers razed nearly a thousand shanties and killed three people in a creekside slum in the Philippine capital, one of more than a dozen fires across the country linked to raucous New Year’s celebrations.
Strong winds fanned the flames racing through nearly a kilometer long row of shanties in a village in suburban Quezon city in metropolitan Manila before dawn on Thursday, said village officer Noel Carino. Firefighters struggled to get near the burning shanties because of narrow alleys.
“It’s really a tragic way to welcome the new year,” Carino said.
Firefighters recovered the body of a woman and two other residents who were trapped in their houses after rains helped douse the six-hour inferno. Three people were injured, including a firefighter, whose three fingers were ripped off by metal shrapnel that flew around when a cooking gas tank exploded, the Bureau of Fire Protection said.
Residents struggled to save anything they could from the fire, including cats and dogs, with many using improvised floating devices to cross a murky river and escape the flames.
Bureau of Fire Protection spokesman Renato Marcial said nearly a thousand houses, mostly shanties and huts, were destroyed, displacing about 4,000 poor families.