Boy, 2, among 5 dead in CdO fire

CAGAYAN DE ORO CItY: five persons, including a 2-year-old boy, died in a fire that razed four houses here on Wednesday, police reported on Thursday.

The victims were cremated early Thursday morning in a public columbarium managed by the local government of Cagayan de Oro.

Col. Ivan Viñas, the city police spokesman, identified the casualties as Chaviz Viel Cagampang, 2U, female; Melvin Subteniente, 26, male; Charade Venz Subteniente, 9, male; Shider Jed Cagampang, 1P, male; and Seems william balana, the 2-year-old child.

Viñas said the police received a report past noon on wednesday about an ongoing fire at the back of a commercial building on Osmeña Street here.

He added that the fire reportedly started in the house of a certain Ronnie Cagampang in barangay 34, Osmeña Street, a busy commercial district a block away from the city’s Cogon public market.

The victims were apparently trapped because the pathway leading to the house was very tight and narrow that could not even accommodate two persons walking side by side.

Viñas said the victims also apparently tried to escape through the rooftop of the house but could not scale firewalls that protect surrounding banks and other commercial buildings.

He added the charred bodies of the victims were recovered three hours after fire authorities declared “fire out.”

Fire investigators are still trying to find out the cause of the fire and the possible damage from it, Viñas said.