BY NYARIKA DOMANAIS
ILOILO – Three children died when a fire gutted their house made of light materials in Barangay Dalusan, Maasin town around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, July 3.
The fatalities were identified as Decir siblings Ashley, 5; Arjon, 4; and Arjen, 1.
Maasin police said the three were trapped inside their house when it caught fire while their other sibling, Arcil, 8, and relative Rechelle, 12, survived.
Their parents, Arnel, 29, and Michelle Decir, 36, left the house. Michelle went to a wake nearby, police said.
Jolyn Marco, the victims’ grandmother, said the three fatalities were persons with disability.
“Naman-an namon gadabuk kalayo. Tapos si nanay nila waay man jan, didto sa ubos sa namatyan,” Marco said.
According to Senior Fire Officer 3 Lyra P Villafranca, acting fire marshal of the town’s Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the fire truck arrived at 11:18 p.m. and the victims’ bodies were found by the firefighters after battling the blaze.
A “fire out” was declared at around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 4.
Villafranca said that according to the relatives of the victims, before their parents left they burned trash near their house.
“Ang ila himata naghambal nga may ginbilin nga tutod kuno para sa lamok. Pero sa amon ma-conduct gid kami investigation para matul-id ta gid ang nahalinan sang sunog,” Villafranca added.
The damage was pegged at P22,750.
BFP-Maasin was still investigating the cause of the blaze as of this writing./PN
