Customs broker, wife, son killed in blaze

MALVAR, Batangas — A Customs broker, his wife and 11-year-old son were killed in a two-hour fire that gutted their residence in Barangay San Pioquinto here early yesterday morning, the police said.

Senior Superintendent Francisco Don Montenegro, Batangas police director, identified the victims as Customs broker Rodel Fornaza, 49, his wife, Eleonor, 44, and son Raymund.

Investigation showed the fire started in the garage of the Fornaza residence at about 2 a.m.

Their neighbors said they heard a loud explosion before the fire broke out in the garage where five vehicles were kept.

Three other children of the Fornazas survived the incident since they slept with their grandmother in another house in the compound. — Arnell Ozaeta