Six children among 15 killed in Philippine market fire | World News - Hindustan Times
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Six children among 15 killed in Philippine market fire

AFP | By, Manila
Oct 31, 2015 11:48 AM IST

Fifteen people including six children died on Saturday after they were trapped in a burning market in the southern Philippines, local police said.

Fifteen people including six children died on Saturday after they were trapped in a burning market in the southern Philippines, local police said.

At least some 50 houses made of light materials were destroyed by fire, affecting 150 families according to a Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) official.(REUTERS Photo)
At least some 50 houses made of light materials were destroyed by fire, affecting 150 families according to a Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) official.(REUTERS Photo)

The victims were sleeping in the padlocked building when the fire, believed to have been triggered by faulty electrical wiring, broke out before dawn, Chief Inspector Joel Tuttuh told AFP.

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Vendors and their families regularly spend the night inside the decrepit market in the port city of Zamboanga to watch over their merchandise, mostly used clothes and vegetables, he said.

All but one of the buildings many entrance and exit doors are left open for the night, he said.

Residents splash pails of water to put out a fire that hit a residential area of Tambo town, Paranaque city, south of Manila. The fire was believed to have been triggered by faulty electrical wiring. (REUTERS Photo)
Residents splash pails of water to put out a fire that hit a residential area of Tambo town, Paranaque city, south of Manila. The fire was believed to have been triggered by faulty electrical wiring. (REUTERS Photo)

“The victims were trapped in the burning building. They couldn’t find their way out,” Tuttuh said.

Two of the six children who perished were one year old, he said, adding thirteen other people were being treated in hospital for severe burns.

Huge and sometimes deadly fires at sprawling slums as well as markets and factories are common in the Philippines, where fire safety regulations are sometimes wilfully disregarded.

Last May, 72 people were killed after a huge blaze tore through a footwear factory in the northern suburbs of the capital, Manila.

In one of country’s deadliest-ever fires, 162 people were killed and 94 others were injured at a Manila disco in 1996.

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