5 siblings killed in Valenzuela fire

Five children died while another was seriously injured when a fire believed caused by a lighted candle broke out in a squatters’ colony before dawn yesterday in Valenzuela City.

The fatalities were identified as Bibeth Vebita, 10, and her siblings Rita, 8; Henesy, 7; Maymay, 6, and Harold Jr., 3.

The eldest child, 12-year-old Herald, suffered second-degree burns and fractured arms but survived the blaze. He is confined at the Valenzuela General Hospital.

The victims’ parents Marites and Harold Vebita Sr., both vegetable vendors, left the children at around 1 a.m. at their house on Dulong Carnation St. in Barangay Malinta, to buy vegetables in Divisoria, Manila.

Chief Inspector Agapito Nacario, Valenzuela City Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) chief, said the fatalities were burned beyond recognition.

He said neighbors were not able to rescue the children because the doors were padlocked from the outside as a safeguard against robbers by the parents who both left for Divisoria to purchase their supplies to be sold at the local Malinta market.

Senior Fire Officer 3 Fidelito Minebe, Valenzuela BFP arson investigator, said the fire caused by an unattended lighted candle started at around 2 a.m. at the kitchen of the Vebitas’ shanty which was put up at the bank of a creek on Dulong Carnation St.

He said residents were using candles at night after the illegal power connections that supply electricity to the neighborhood, were cut off last Friday.

The fire rapidly spread inside the small shanty that was made of wood and light materials where the six children were trapped at the second floor.

"Only the eldest Herald was able to jump out from the second floor window and fell on the murky water of the adjacent creek 15 feet down," Nacario said.

Nacario said criminal charges could be filed against the parents who left their young children unattended which is against the law.

The fire from the Vebita shanty spread to nearby houses and gutted at least 100 shanties in the slum area before firemen were able to put out the fire three hours later. An estimated P3-million in property was reportedly destroyed.

Nacario said that residents were able to report the blaze to the local fire station more than 30 minutes after it started and the narrow passages prevented their fire trucks from entering the site.

The passageways were also blocked by the belongings of the residents who tried to rescue whatever they could from their burning shanties.

"We need to connect at least 10 hoses to penetrate the fire site," Nacario said.

Nacario appealed to Valenzuela City residents, especially those in depressed areas, not to take for granted the BFP’s fire prevention information campaign "for their own good."

Mayor Sherwin Gatchalian, through the city social welfare and disaster units, sent yesterday relief goods to the fire victims.

Accidental fires are common in slum areas, causing deaths and injuries among impoverished families every year. - AP