TAKING STOCK A man surveys the charred ruins of his neighborhood following the predawn fire that hit Barangay Tuktukan, Taguig City, on Thursday. RAFFY LERMA
A 5-year-old girl died in a fire that gutted around 200 houses in Taguig City shortly after midnight on Thursday, the day she was supposed to graduate from preparatory school.
Christine Noces was sleeping with her 7-year-old brother inside a locked room in their house in Purok 6, Bagong Silang, Barangay Tuktukan, when a the fire broke out in the area occupied mostly by informal settlers.
While her sibling was able to escape through the window, Noces got trapped as the flames spread across the neighborhood. Her charred body was later found under burnt lumber and roofing sheets.
The victim’s mother, Perlita, told arson investigators that she accompanied her husband, a jeepney driver, Wednesday night when he plied his route, and that they were planning to spend his day’s earnings to celebrate Christine’s graduation on Thursday.
She said they had to lock the door of their room where the children were sleeping because there was no other adult to watch over them in the house.
Senior Fire Officer 1 Aristeo Reloj said the fire started at 12:08 a.m. at the house of Alexander German. The cause remained under investigation, but residents suspected it was due to a candle left unattended. Firefighters battled the inferno for the about five hours, their movement hampered by the narrow passageways.
Three residents—Aldrin Carbon, Carmina Alfonso and Maritess Hernandez—sustained minor injuries.
About 300 families were left homeless and many were still taking shelter at the covered court in Barangay Ususan at press time.