Fire kills 10 in Cotabato, Iligan City

Ten people died in separate fires that hit residential areas in North Cotabato province and Iligan City on Monday and Tuesday, reports from the Bureau of Fire Protection said.

In North Cotabato, a family of four died while five others were hurt after a fire razed a house in Makilala town at 3 p.m. on Monday.

Fire Officer 3 Rey Pacres said Esnayra Quila, 29, and her children Sohaile, 3; Sohaina, 2; and a 3-month-old baby died in the blaze that hit their house at Barangay Buhay. Treated for burns were five other relatives of the Quilas.

In Iligan City, a fire that broke out at 3 a.m. Tuesday in the coastal village of Maria Cristina killed a woman and her five children.

Firemen found the charred remains of Lilibeth Barricuatro and her five sons inside a toilet after the hourlong fire, said Barricuatro’s relative, Ricky Dampug.

The fire razed three houses and an apartment unit. —Reports from Edwin O. Fernandez and Richel V. Umel