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Six dead in Christmas fires: Philippine police
Six people have been killed in Christmas fires in the Philippines that were blamed on exploding fireworks, police and television reports said on Friday.
Six people have been killed in Christmas fires in the Philippines that were blamed on exploding fireworks, police and television reports said on Friday.
Firecrackers believed set off by customers ignited the rest of the merchandise at a row of fireworks stalls in the southern city shortly after midnight, said the city police chief, Superintendent Marcelo Pintac.
"Two were killed on the spot and a third expired at a local hospital," Pintac told reporters. "A fourth person sustained burn injuries." The fire occurred at a city park where the temporary structures were erected for holiday shoppers, the police official said.
About two hours earlier, two children and a pregnant woman were killed when a blaze razed 46 stalls selling fireworks in the central city of Mandaue on Christmas Eve, GMA television reported.
Hundreds of Filipinos are maimed or burned each year in firework accidents, usually around Christmas, when people set off crackers all night or fire guns into the air in drink-fuelled revelry.
