Polio-stricken girl killed in Rizal fire

A polio-stricken teenage girl was killed in a fire that razed at least 100 houses in Taytay, Rizal, before midnight on Saturday and left 500 families homeless.

The victim, 13-year-old Leslie Ann de los Santos, died after she was trapped inside her family’s house in Sitio (settlement) Maahas, Barangay (village) San Juan, according to Romy Sapanta, officer in charge of the town’s fire brigade.

In a phone interview, Sapanta said the fire started at 10:45 p.m. on Saturday and quickly spread throughout the congested area where most of the houses were built of light materials.

It reached the third alarm before firefighters finally put it out at 1 a.m. Sunday.

Sapanta said De los Santos was alone on the second floor of her family’s house when the blaze broke out.

Because of her disability, she failed to get out in time. Firefighters later found her body underneath what remained of the house.

The municipal fire brigade estimated the damage to property at P500,000.

The cause of the blaze was still under investigation although residents believed it was caused by electrical problems, Sapanta said.