The 10 family members killed in a fire incident that gutted down a residence in Muntinlupa City died of ‘asphyxia by suffocation’, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) City Fire Marshal supt. Eugene Briones said Monday, Dec. 19.
Asphyxia is a condition arising when the body is deprived of oxygen, causing unconsciousness, suffocation and even death.
“Ang ikinamatay talaga nila ay asphyxia by suffocation. Nag-attempt sila (to escape the house), makikita natin ang isang pamilya sa second floor (of the burning house) may mga sugat-sugat pa siya sa katawan (The cause of their death is really asphyxia by suffocation. They attempted to escape, we saw one family in the second floor of the house full of body bruises),’’ Briones said.
Briones said the family members failed to escape the burning house as the windows were fixed with iron grills and were also unable to pass through the main door of the ground floor where the blaze started.
The Muntinlupa City Fire Marshal pointed out that the family just came from the ‘Simbang Gabi (Dawn Mass)’ and were preparing breakfast when the fire started as evidenced by the bits and pieces of carrots and cabbage.
“Ang cause of fire ay patuloy pa natin iniimbestigahan (The cause of the fire is continuously being investigated),’’ he added.
Briones stated that there were two fire exits in the said residents but both of them were locked and were not being used by the family members.
“Kailangan natin ituro talaga sa lahat ng kasamahan natin sa bahay saan makikita ang susi (of the fire exits) (We really need to teach everybody in the house where the keys can be found),’’ he added.
Briones called on the public to routinely practice on how to use the fire exits of their houses or buildings to avoid the locks from having rusts or getting stocked up.
The BFP identified the victims as Claire Ladia, 65; Virgilio Ladia, 68; Mark Gil Ladia, 39; Cherry Ladia, 19; Jerome Ladia, 19; Leandro Jose Ladia, 15; Emmanuel Ladia, 12; Cherise Angela Ladia, five months old; Ana Ladia, 33 and Amatheus Ladia, 16.
Only Virginia, 86 survived the fire incident.
The BFP-NCR public information office said that the fire reached the first alarm on Larva Street, Bruger Subdivision at around 9:02 a.m. and was declared fire under control at 9:25 a.m. on Dec. 18. (Chito A. Chavez)