Siblings of missing girl seek help

Ormoc City — About 25 of gutted the 26 victims of the fire that hit the Unitop General Merchandizing here on Christmas day were all identified and buried last week including the unidentified female cadaver, yet the sisters of a girl who was purportedly inside the store when the tragedy happened are still looking for their missing sibling.

Sisters Janet Gaverola-Lee and Gina Gaverola-Llaneta yesterday said that they are still looking for their sister Johnna Gaverola, 17, who was inside the Unitop when the fire broke out on Christmas day. Gina said that she, her sister Johnna and their mother Bienvenida were inside the store buying several stuffs that they would give as presents to their other family members who wanted to spend Christmas in their hometown in Sogod, Southern Leyte. Gina and her mother stayed at their sister Janet’s home for the holidays and arrived here last Dec. 24.

Gina said she and her mother were already outside Unitop when her sister went inside to buy a pedal pants. She said her sister was about to pay the stuff when a series of explosions ocurred. She said that shoppers rushed out in panic brought by the explosions and they were just within the building but they were not able to find her sister anymore. — Roberto Dejon