Tacloban City fire kills 2 elderly women

TACLOBAN CITY—Two elderly women were killed on Tuesday when a fire razed their two-story house along Real Street this city.

Virgie Martinez, 72, and her sister, Edith, 70, were found embracing each other in the living room. Firefighters said they believed the two tried to get out of the burning house.

Adel de la Paz Bautista, city fire marshal, said a man working at a gasoline station near the sisters’ house reported the fire past 1 a.m.

Firemen arrived about 10 minutes later. By 1:30 a.m., firefighters declared the fire put out.

Bautista said firefighters believed that the two sisters were sleeping on the second floor when the fire started. They tried to seek refuge on the ground floor where they were trapped, said the fire marshal.

“One of them, Edith, was said to be bedridden. Perhaps, the elder sister tried to rescue her but failed to do so since the fire had spread and because of their frail condition,” Bautista said.

Bautista said fire officials are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the fire although neighbors said they heard an explosion before it broke out.