CEBU CITY – A 10-year-old boy was killed in a fire that destroyed their house in Barangay Talamban here at dawn on Tuesday, June 4.

The fatality was identified as Nathan Jade Villamor.

Police said the victim was asleep when the house caught fire around 2 a.m.

The victim’s mother claimed she went out to buy something while the boy’s grandmother was at the Carbon Market when the fire broke out.

The boy’s mother refused to grant a media interview.

Nathan's father, Chris Jade Rabutan, has been working in Manila after he and his wife separated.

Interviewed by reporters through a phone call, Rabutan it was not the first time that his son was left alone in the house.

Rabutan recalled an incident when he chanced upon the boy crying while he was alone in the house.

He said there were times when the boy was alone in the house while the mother was drinking with her friends.

Police Major Alvino Enguito, chief of the Talamban police station, said a deeper investigation will be conducted on the incident.

“We will conduct further investigation because it could be that it was not the first time that the boy was left alone in the house because it was unusual that she (mother) left home to buy something at 2 a.m.,” said Enguito.

The cause of fire is still being investigated. Fire damage was pegged at P300,000.