LOCAL
5 found dead huddled together in Sorsogon market fire
The victims were found huddled inside the comfort room of a stall in the Sorsogon City public market after a fire razed much of its main building before midnight Saturday, 24 October. Despite the quick government response, the fire raged and consumed much of the wet and dry sections of the building, which was mostly made of wood.
NAGA CITY – Five people were found dead inside the comfort room of a market stall after a fire razed the main building of the Sorsogon City Public Market before midnight on Saturday, 24 October, the Sorsogon provincial police said.
The victims were identified as Lerisa Grefalda Tadong, 40, her daughter Chloe, and three market vendors. The fire broke out at around 10:40 p.m. at the public market in Barangay Sampaloc. Tadong and her daughter were residents of Barangay Cawit in Casiguran, Sorsogon.
Their bodies were discovered inside the comfort room of a stall owned by Tadong on Sunday, 25 October. Police said the five victims had initially been reported missing while the fire was raging.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Sorsogon City declared the fire out at around 2:25 a.m. Sunday. An investigation was launched to determine the cause of the fire and assess the extent of the damage.
Clearing operations remain ongoing.
Wooden structure
Fire trucks from Sorsogon City and nearby areas responded to the incident. However, the fire spread through much of the market’s wet and dry sections, which were largely made of wood, destroying numerous stalls selling seafood, fish, meat, clothing, and other goods.
Sorsogon Gov. Jose Edwin “Boboy” Hamor visited the site to oversee response operations and assure market tenants and stall owners of assistance from the provincial government.
He also directed the Provincial Engineering Office to prepare an area along the Sorsogon City Coastal Road as a temporary market for displaced vendors and business owners so they could resume their livelihoods.
Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Bicol provided P10,000 in cash assistance to each of the five victims’ bereaved families through its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation program.
“The agency also began arranging funeral assistance to help cover burial expenses, while social workers are set to visit survivors confined in hospitals to provide psychosocial support and assess their need for financial assistance,” DSWD Bicol said in a statement.
DSWD social workers also visited the victims’ families on Sunday to provide Psychological First Aid and help them cope with the emotional distress of losing their loved ones in the fire.