Baby dead in QC fire; Quiapo bridge under watch after blaze

MANILA, Philippines—A one-year-old baby was killed after she was left behind when her older siblings fled from their burning house in Quezon City Thursday afternoon.

At least 60 families were left homeless in the hourlong blaze that hit a community of slum dwellers on King Nicolas Street in Malolis Ville Subdivision, Novaliches, at 3:23 p.m.

Quezon City fire marshal Supt. Jesus Fernandez said the flames quickly spread as the houses in the area were made of light materials.

He identified the fatality as Charlote Margot de la Cruz who was asleep in their house when the fire broke out.

“Her parents were not around at that time and she had been left in the care of her four older siblings,” Fernandez added. The couple’s eldest child is 14 years old.

When the fire broke out, the children immediately left the house, forgetting Charlote who was sound asleep. Her body was found almost an hour later after the blaze was put out at 4:20 p.m.

Fernandez told the Inquirer that the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has banned trucks and other heavy vehicles from using Quezon Bridge in Quiapo, Manila, after a fire broke out in a community of informal settlers beneath the structure at 8:05 a.m. yesterday, destroying 50 houses and leaving two kids injured.

The DPWH instead advised motorists to use the Ayala, MacArthur and Jones bridges. “Stockpiling of vehicles on Quezon Bridge should be avoided pending results of the DPWH inspection of its structural integrity,” it said.—With Jerry Esplanada and Maricar B. Brizuela