6 kids killed in Rizal fire

Five children of a couple jailed for peddling illegal drugs and their cousin were killed in a fire believed caused by an unattended lighted candle in Taytay, Rizal yesterday.

The bodies of the victims — Aljaman Daud, 7, and his younger siblings Arman, 6; Alia, 5; Alp, 4, and Alvin, 2, and their cousin Manases Dioso, 9 — were recovered by firemen at the second floor of their partially burned house at Block 2, Bonifacio Road, Bay Garden Homes in Barangay Sta. Ana.

The victims’ parents, Tinong Daud and his wife, were among those arrested by the police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force last August.

Police said the Daud couple, suspected to be remnants of the dismantled shabu tiangge in Pasig City, yielded illegal drugs and shabu paraphernalia.

The Daud couple was charged with drug pushing and is presently detained at the Philippine National Police custodial cell at Camp Crame.

Following the couple’s arrest, their seven children were left to the care of their relatives in Barangay Sta. Ana.

Police said Taytay was among the Rizal municipalities without power since typhoon "Milenyo" hit the country last week.

The victims were sleeping on the second floor of the Daud residence while their nanny, Baby Lyn Lantion, 15, and the couple’s two other children, Ahmad, 11 and Ismael, 8, were on the ground floor when the fire struck.

Lantion told fire probers that a lighted candle left unattended on a table could have triggered the fire.

Lantion managed to grab Ahmad and Ismael and rushed out of the house.

But strong winds fanned the fire to adjacent houses made of light materials, preventing her and her neighbors from saving the six other children.

Responding firemen from Taytay and neighboring towns put out the blaze at 3:40 a.m. Only the second floor of the house was damaged.

The Daud couple broke into tears when informed about the tragedy.

The Muslim community and the Dauds’ relatives are set to bury the victims anytime in line with the Muslim tradition.