Philippines factory fire kills at least 16, where flooding and a wrong address delayed firefighters
- Most of the victims appeared to be factory workers and carpenters who were sleeping in rooms when the fire broke out Thursday morning
- Construction of buildings and residential enclaves that do not conform to safety rules and lax enforcement of regulations have caused deadly fires in the past
Most of the victims appeared to be factory workers and carpenters who were sleeping in rooms when the fire broke out Thursday morning.
Some were found dead on an aisle outside the rooms and the factory owner and his child were among the dead, Chief Superintendent Nahum Tarroza of the Bureau of Fire Protection said.
“The victims were trapped in the house,” he said in a radio interview. “The fire started in front of the house, which was the entrance and exit, where there was an ongoing expansion.”
Among the fatalities were the couple who owned the house and business and their 3-year-old child.
Tarroza said the body of another child was found in the debris as firefighters were clearing the rubble.
“Hopefully there will be no more additional victims,” he said.
Three people survived with injuries by jumping off the second floor of the two-storey factory in panic, Tarroza said. The three were taken to a hospital.