Sunday, December 31, 2006 Cheating death By Oscar C. Pineda Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A SOFT light above the dark ceiling showed a saleslady and a hog dealer the way to safe ground, away from the fire that threatened to engulf them from below.
For Christmas this year, Glen Igot, 44, and Emilee Ocares, 18, received the gift of life.
At least 27 other shoppers and store workers who were with them died inside the Unitop General Merchandise store in Ormoc City last Monday.
“Di ko ka-too oy, nga mabuhi pa ko (I did not believe I would make it out of there alive),” was Emilee’s reaction when interviewed at the hospital.
If Glen had not dragged her up through the ceiling, she wouldn’t have survived, Emilee said. But Glen recalled it was Emilee who saw the way out of the dark and smoke-filled crawl space just under the roof.
Rapid explosions
Glen, the father of two young teenagers, was buying a shower curtain and tablecloth at Unitop when he got trapped together with about a hundred shoppers on Christmas Day.
The fire, he recalled, started after he heard the rapid explosions of firecrackers. He thought the sparks would die down soon. Instead, the crowd panicked when some people realized that the fire exit at the back of the store was locked.
“Paglingi ko pag-otro sa buto-buto, nikalit pagngit-ngit, pero siga pa ang mga suga (When I looked back at the explosions, it suddenly grew dim, although the lights were still on),” said Glen.
He moved away from the front entrance.
As the crowd rushed to the comfort rooms, about three by 1.5 meters, somebody pointed to the holes at the ceiling, some eight feet above their heads. It was the only way out.
Despite their panic, someone managed to drag an aluminum ladder, allowing Glen to climb up. He remembered pushing children and women up through that hole, so they could escape.
But as the heat became unbearable, people began tugging at the ladder, forcing Glen to grab the edges of the hole and pull himself up to safety.
A way out
Inside the dark crawl space, he heard a woman’s voice saying from below, “Kuya, naa ra diri ang agianan (Kuya, I can see the way out).”
That woman was Emilee.
Prompted by her direction, he saw a faint light. Glen believes it may have been reflected light.
“If not for that light, we would not have known where to go,” said Emilee.
As Glen tried to figure out an escape path, his hands touching iron bars and the concrete wall, he heard Emily pleading for help.
“Kuya, ayaw tawon ko biyai (Please don’t leave me here),” she said.
He pulled her to safety, and together they somehow made their way to a section of the roof that was covered only by plastic.
They climbed out, unable to stand still because of the heat, and found a six-foot firewall, which they found the strength to scale. Then they clambered from the roof of one building to another, Glen leading the way and Emilee occasionally yelling for him not to leave her.
Future plans
Moments later, they reached a private terrace, where a man led them through the gate and down the stairs.
Though the ordeal left her with scratches in both arms, feet and legs, Emilee is safe. From her hospital bed, the eldest of four felt well enough to discuss her plans of resuming her education course, as soon as she saves enough money.
Glen rested in an adjacent room at the Ormoc Sugar Planters’ Association Hospital, a tube in his nose and numerous scratches on his limbs. But like Emilee, he felt well enough to think of the future, and of going back to his business soon.
Interviewed separately, they kept recalling the stranger who saved their life—their stories peppered with references to “kadtong babaye (that woman)” and “kadtong tawo (that man).”
