85-year-old woman killed in house fire in San Juan

MANILA, Philippines—An 85-year-old woman was killed after she was trapped inside her burning house in San Juan City on Sunday.

SFO3 Domingo Cabug, the city’s fire investigation chief, identified the victim as Remedios Rodriguez Go.

Go’s body, he said, was found in her room on the second floor of her house on R. Pascual Street in Barangay (village) Batis. A blaze struck the house at 1 p.m. and was put out almost an hour later but not before destroying around P1.3-million worth of property.

“She was lying lifeless on the floor at the foot of her bed but she was not burnt,” Cabug said, noting the blaze which began in the back portion of the ground floor did not reach the victim’s room on the second floor.

He added that the elderly woman, who could not walk anymore, may have died of suffocation.

Go’s two daughters identified as Betty, 60; and Lily, 63; were also in the house at the time of the fire but they managed to escape.

They told their brother, William, that they had tried to get their mother out of the house when the blaze broke out by attempting to go to her room on the second floor.

“But when the smoke got thick, Betty and Lily were forced to get out of the house to seek help,” Cabug said, noting the two women would not have been able to carry Go by themselves.

Although authorities have yet to determine the cause of the fire Cabug said that it may have been electrical in nature.

He added the blaze originated from a part of the house allotted for the family’s business.

FO2 Garry Espares, arson investigator, said that the Gos were involved in the manufacture of stereos and radios.

“But we’re still looking at all possible causes of the fire,” he added.—With a report from Bong Lozada, INQUIRER.net

Originally posted: 3:08 pm | Sunday, May 25th, 2014

RELATED STORY

Many PH towns still without fire trucks – Roxas