Store employee dies in building fire in Cebu town

CEBU CITY—A 21­-year-­old convenience store employee was killed after being trapped inside a building that was razed by a fire in Barangay Tunghaan, Minglanilla town, southern Cebu at past 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

The victim identified as Angel Laurito slept alone when the fire broke out, said FO1 Fulbert Navarro of the Minglanilla fire station. She had the day off, Navarro said.

Her body was found slumped at the mouth of the door going to the stairs. “Basi sa iyang position, makita nga nisuway siyag gawas, nikamang patubang sa pultahan (Based on her position, it could be seen that she tried to escape and crawled her way from the bed to the door but failed),” Navarro said.

Her body had signs of burns but fire investigators were looking into the possibility that she may have suffocated to death. The fire was reported at 2:06 p.m. on Wednesday.

The commercial building owned by Benedicto Unabia was destroyed. The fire was declared under control after nine minutes and put out by 2:20 p.m.

A motorcycle repair shop, an upholstery shop and telecommunications office occupied space inside the building which also had a two­story extension that served as a boarding house.

Navarro said Letecia Borinaga, owner of the upholstery shop, claimed that she was sewing when she noticed that the room suddenly became too hot. She was shocked when she turned her back and saw the piles of foam already up in flames.

Borinaga told investigators that the fire might have started from the ongoing renovation of the adjacent motorcycle repair shop owned by Jonren Unabia.

Fire investigators have yet to determine the veracity of the allegations. RC