Three siblings aged ten, seven, and five died after being trapped in a fire of still unknown origin that gutted their home in Barangay Sto. Domingo, Quezon City, Tuesday afternoon.
The blaze tore through a row of houses made of light materials along P. Florentino Street after it broke out around 11 a.m. The victims — two boys and a girl — were reportedly sleeping when the fire occurred.
Their mother, Jeanine Pauline Miñoza, told arson probers that she left her children in the care of their ailing grandmother while she went to Manila to arrange a CT scan for her mother’s medical needs.
Firefighters were able to rescue the 53-year-old grandmother from the blaze, but they were unable to save the children, who were trapped on the third floor of their home.
The fire reached the third alarm before it was finally declared under control a couple of hours later. Investigators are still determining the cause of the blaze as well as the estimated cost of damages.
Around 100 individuals lost their homes in the incident and are now temporarily staying at the nearby Sto. Domingo Church.