CEBU CITY – Tragedy struck just as the year was about to end after two fatal fire incidents broke out in separate areas in Cebu province.
AUTHORITIES inspect a house razed by fire in Bogo City, northern Cebu on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 29. (Photo from MyTVCebu)
In Tabogon town, a mother and her seven-year-old son died when their house caught fire past midnight on Monday, Dec. 30.
The fatalities were identified as Mylene Tul-id Lubanga, 33, and her son, Regil Kent Tul-id Lubanga.
An unattended candle may have caused the fire, said Police Master Sgt. Venice John Paul Armero of the Tabogon Police Station.
Police said a power outage occurred around 8 p.m. that prompted the family to use a candle to light the house in Sitio Nangka, Barangay Ilihan.
The lighted candle was placed on a plastic chair.
While the family was asleep, it was possible that the candle got in contact with a curtain that triggered the fire, police said.
The mother was able to run out of the house but noticed that her son was not with her. She ran back to the burning house and found her son hiding in a cabinet.
The mother and son were not able to get out of the house as flames grew bigger and engulfed the entire house.
In Bogo City, a one-year-old girl died after she was trapped in her burning house on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 29.
Police said Rhea May Flores Cruz was asleep when her house in Purok Periko, Barangay Taytayan, caught fire at 3:45 p.m.
Cruz and her four siblings were the only ones at home as their father, a delivery driver, was at work. The children’s mother is working in Manila.
Neighbors and family members tried to save the child but to no avail.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.