Missing baby in Manila fire found dead

Residents looking for reusable materials at the site of Thursday’s fire in Manila found Friday morning the charred remains of the 10-month-old baby who was earlier reported missing during the blaze.

SFO2 John Joseph Jalique of the Manila Fire District said the body of the infant, Benedick Boholst, was discovered under the debris on the spot where his family’s house once stood on Sta. Teresita Street in Sampaloc.

Jalique said residents Solamor Bona and Roselito Cadunog came upon the baby as they were sifting through the debris at around 10:30 a.m. yesterday. The infant was apparently left behind by his guardians in his crib, he said.

The two-hour fire, which was traced to an electric fan that overheated, destroyed at least 10 houses and injured the baby’s 84-year-old grandmother, Emiliana San Jose.

It was one of the three fires that hit Metro Manila on Thursday, the others razing a residential area in Quezon City and a plastics warehouse in Valenzuela. Jeannette I. Andrade