3 youngsters killed in Masbate fire
NAGA CITY, Philippines—Three young siblings died in a fire that engulfed their home in a remote coastal village in Milagros town, Masbate early Monday morning, the police said.
Chief Inspector Romeo Lupango Jr., officer in charge of the Milagros police, said the fatalities–Ian, 4; Marjorie, 2; and Iz, 10 months old, all surnamed Alba–were inside their bamboo hut in Sitio (sub-village) Embudo, Barangay (village) Jamorawon when the fire broke out at 5 a.m.
Initial investigation showed that the children’s parents, Teodoro and Josephine Alba, were out working in a rice field when the tragedy occurred.
Lupango said the fire was caused by a kerosene lamp that might have accidentally fallen on combustible pandan material.
He said elements of the Army’s 9th Infantry Battalion based in Milagros have joined police investigators in going to Sitio Embudo.
