Man torches own room, destroys building

MANILA, Philippines – A man died after he locked himself up inside a room and started a fire there that razed an entire apartment building and 58 adjacent shanties in Quezon City yesterday morning.

Firefighters recovered the charred remains of Manolo Esquivel, 50, from what was left of the apartment building in Barangay Sto Domingo.

The fire left around 300 families homeless and destroyed properties worth around P5 million, said arson investigator Senior Fire Officer 2 Fortunato Alde.

Alde said the flames started on the second level of the three-storey apartment building owned by a certain Salvador Magtalon.

Alde said it was still unclear why Esquivel set the room on fire at around 4:25 a.m. Firefighters put out the fire by 7:40 a.m.

Esquievel has reportedly been staying with his niece, Mona, and her husband at their rented unit since arriving from his hometown in Cagayan Valley on May 30. At the time he started the fire, Esquivel was alone.

Magtalon told fire investigators that other occupants of the building saw Esquivel running into their rented unit before locking the door.

Upon seeing smoke coming from the unit, Magtalon asked Esquivel to open the door. Esquivel refused to open the door and reportedly blocked it with furniture.