2 dead in Antipolo fire

SAN PEDRO CITY — Two persons, one of them believed to be a child, died in a fire that gutted a junkshop in Antipolo City in Rizal province on Sunday evening, police said.

Antipolo police chief Supt. Raynold Rosero, in a phone interview Monday, said they were having difficulties identifying the fatalities who did not appear to be residents of the city. But, he said that based on the initial report, one of the burned cadavers belonged to a child although they could not determine the victims’ gender.

A fire gutted the Medes Junkshop,  located along Simeon Drive in Barangay (village) San Roque, around 8 p.m. on Sunday.

Residents alerted the authorities when they observed smoke coming out of the shop but the fire had already spread by then. The fire was put out half an hour later.

Rosero said they are still talking with the shop owner and witnesses as authorities try to determine the origin of the fire. JE/rga