P1 million worth of medical supplies lost in Sta. Cruz fire

MANILA, Philippines — At least a million pesos worth of medical supplies was destroyed when a fire gutted a store early Tuesday morning in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Senior Fire Officer 2 Edilberto Cruz of the Manila Fire District’s San Lazaro station said the fire started on the ground floor of a six-story commercial-residential building owned by Corazon Agnaraynay, at the corner of Rizal Avenue and Mayhaligue Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

The ground floor was occupied by a medical supplies store, Scientific Product Co., owned by Alexander Lee.

Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the fire, which started at around 1:38 a.m. on Tuesday and was declared out 30 minutes after.

Initial estimates placed the damage to the property at P100,000 but Cruz said that the owner claimed a lost of at least a million pesos. At the time of the fire, Cruz added, the store was filled with supplies that were for delivery to the various schools in the metro.

There were no reported deaths in the fire but a volunteer, Zech Uy, was rushed to the Chinese General Hospital. Cruz said the volunteer might have suffered from suffocation.

The area where the fire started was surrounded by medical supplies stores, which fortunately the fire did not reach.

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