PO1 Cherry del Rosario, desk officer of the Pasacao police, identified the fatalities as Ramil Quijano, 33, Romelyn Tapar, 33, and Rolando Dominguez, 23, who were not able to escape when the explosion occurred and set the gasoline storehouse ablaze.
Del Rosario said investigators suspected that an estimated 2,400 liters of gasoline in about a dozen drums or barrels and several other plastic containers caused the fire that lasted for about an hour.
Police found at least 12 drums, each believed to have contained 200 liters of gasoline, in the gutted concrete building along with the charred remains of the three fatalities.
Del Rosario said the explosion happened at around 6:50 p.m. in Barangay Odicon and the fire was put out at 8 p.m.
She said the illegal storehouse was owned by one Armando Quijano and the gasoline stock was believed to have been illegally obtained from gasoline tankers.
The practice of siphoning or stealing gasoline from fuel tankers, which are usually owned or hired by legitimate oil companies, is called “paihi (urinate)” in the vernacular.