Bedridden man, sickly wife killed in fire
A bedridden elderly man and his sickly wife were killed in a fire that broke out inside their house in Marikina City on Tuesday.
Supt. Marcos Valen, the city’s fire marshal, identified the couple as Sebastian Librando, 74, and Evangeline Librando, 73.
No fire alarm was raised since the blaze had already been put out by the victims’ neighbors by the time the firefighters arrived at the victims’ bungalow on Ampalaya Street in Barangay Tumana.
The fire was reported at 1:03 a.m. but it was extinguished in minutes. Valen said the victims were apparently unable to get out of the house as Sebastian was bedridden while his wife had been unwell.
He added that the victims’ neighbors also failed to rescue them because the doors were locked. Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire although they believe it may have been triggered by any appliance or a lit mosquito coil inside the couple’s room.
