Filtered By: Topstories
News

15 dead, 12 hurt as fire razes five-storey hotel in Cagayan


(Updated 8:50 p.m.) Fifteen people were killed while 12 others were injured after a fire broke out in a five-storey hotel in Tuguegarao City in the northern Philippine province of Cagayan before dawn Sunday. All the victims were staying at the Bed and Breakfast Pension House at the corner of Mabini and Luna streets in downtown Tuguegarao, which caught fire at around 1 a.m. Sunday. Nine of the fatalities were nursing graduates who were in town to take a licensing examination later in the day, according to Superintendent Pedro Martirez, chief of police of Tuguegarao City. "Oo, nine lahat nursing graduates based sa teacher-in-charge nila (Yes, nine of the victims were nursing graduates according to their teacher-in-charge)," Martirez said. Police Superintendent Danilo Acosta, public information officer of the Police Regional Police 2, identified the nine as Jerome Saet, Francis Caranbas, Nelmar Galapia, Narl Jensan Lopez, Henderson Lodevico, Marlon Justin Viernes, Ryan James Malaki, Richard Allan Gonzales and Ronualdo Respicio. The other six fatalities were identified as Norman Fontanilla, Anibel Fontanilla, Mildred de Leon; Karyle de Leon and Dios de Leon, reportedly the children and grandchildren of the building's owners; and a certain Jen, believed to be the hotel's caretaker. Police identified the hotel's owners as Pete and Annacid Fontanill, who both sustained burns and are being treated at hospital in the city.

Christmas tragedy Some firefighters wept and prayed as they retrieved badly burned bodies. Grieving relatives converged at a morgue where remains of victims — 14 burned beyond recognition — were brought. Some fainted as body bags were brought into a funeral parlor. "Their families spent fortunes to send these children to school only to see them end that way," fire investigator Daniel Abana said. Abana said the dead included three children who may have been members of the family that owned the hotel and who stayed in some of its rooms. "It's so close to Christmas, we wept when we saw their bodies," Abana told The Associated Press by telephone. Dozens of guests, roused by the commotion, were rescued by firefighters and police or reached safety on their own, Abana said. Many of the dead had crammed in bathrooms on the top two floors. One victim had a foot stuck out of a window in a desperate attempt to survive, he added. Survivors Senior Superintendent Mao Aplasca, Cagayan provincial police chief, said the bodies of the victims were brought to Ortiz Funeral Homes for proper identification by the relatives, while those injured were rushed to People's General Hospital and Cagayan Valley Medical Center. "All 12 are now in stable condition," Aplasca said in a text message to reporters. Aida Mariano, mother of one of the survivors, told GMANews.TV that her daughter Fatima talked to her on the phone at around 3 a.m. and said nine of her classmates were trapped inside the hotel. "Fatima was crying when she called me up. She said nine of her friends did not make it to the door. She was complaining something about locked exit doorways and fire extinguishers that are not working," she said. Aileen Gonzales, an aunt of one of the students believed to have perished in the fire, said what happened was a twin disaster because her nephew died just days before Christmas and her family had hoped she would pass the nursing exam and work abroad. Many Filipino students from middle-income and impoverished families have taken nursing courses in recent years in the hope of landing relatively high-paying jobs abroad. Their massive departure has alarmed officials in the poor Southeast Asian country, which sorely lacks medical workers and hospitals. Meanwhile, despite the tragic turn of events the nursing examination pushed through. Mariano said she tried to reach her daughter again but was told that a proctor who watches over the examinees had already sequestered Fatima's mobile phone, which meant the exams were proceeding as scheduled. Cagayan fire official Neil Caranguian said investigators have not determined the cause of the blaze. Faulty electrical equipment, overcrowding and weak enforcement of safety regulations have been blamed for many deadly fires in the Philippines. Tuguegarao, the capital city of Cagayan, is about 215 miles (350 kilometers) north of Manila. Palace condoles Malacañang, meanwhile, extend its condolences to the families of the victims as it directed officials to be stricter in enforcing fire safety standards. Deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte gave the instruction at city engineers, safety inspectors and local government units. A Palace statement Sunday said Valte reminded fire officials to "conduct regular inspections in buildings and other business establishments to avert the occurrence of such untoward incidents." “We would like to extend our condolences to the families of victims of the big fire that happened in Tuguegarao," she said. — with Floro Taguinod/VS/KBK, GMANews.TV
LOADING CONTENT