MALOLOS CITY , Philippines – From sleep to their death.
A couple, two of their young children and a grandchild met their deaths while sound asleep as flames engulfed their house made of light materials in Barangay Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan at around 2 a.m. yesterday.
The fatalities were identified as Rodolfo de la Cruz, 61; his wife Felicita, 51; their children Frian, 16, and Francis, 11; and grandchild Checy, 11.
Residents alerted authorities about the fire, and firefighters prevented the flames from reaching the houses of the De la Cruzes’ neighbors.
Probers said the victims’ house also doubled as a factory for wooden furniture.
At around 2:30 p.m. yesterday, another fire occurred at the midsection of the public market in nearby Balagtas town, razing some 90 percent of the structures there within two hours.
It was the third fire to hit Bulacan in a week. On Easter Sunday, a house was gutted in Hagonoy town, blamed on a pyrotechnic that misfired during the early morning procession. – With Ric Sapnu