DUMAGUETE CITY -- Four women died while eight others escaped unharmed after a fire hit the victims's rented house in Barangay Camanjac, this city, at dawn Saturday.
City Fire Marshall William Tacaldo identified the fatalities as Sarah Jane Resano, 19, and her sister Marissa Resano, 23, of Labason, Zamboanga Del Norte; Maricar Araneta, 22, of Alicia, Zamboanga Sibugay; and Joan Ortega, 31, of Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay.
The bodies of the victims were charred beyond recognition and were found inside a bathroom of the house owned by a certain Ramoncito Remata of Airport Area Sibulan, Negros Oriental.
Police and fire investigators suspected the house, rented by a certain Allan Cadayday of Zamboanga, was a possible base of operations of the illegal numbers game "swertres". The victims were Cadayday's employees.
Initial investigation revealed that the fire could have been started by an unattended lighted candle that was set on a plastic table by a still unidentified occupant of the house, most likely earlier when the city experienced a major power interruption around 11 p.m. Friday.
Tacaldo also assumed that there might be tally sheets on top of the table, causing the fire to spread.
The firefighters placed the fire under control around 4:30 a.m.
Scene of the Crime Operatives and the city police recovered several tally sheets, around five half-full sacks of coins, and a small steel vault believed to contain money from the house, said Tacaldo.
The victims's co-worker, Renato Flores, said that when he noticed a fire inside the house's living room, he tried to wake the victims up but there was no response. He believed the victims were still sleeping when the fire broke out.
Noynoy Canema, one of the occupants of the house, said he was awakened by a consuming heat and when he looked out through his bedroom door, he saw the living room already ablaze.
He said he immediately rushed out of the house while the other occupants, who were also roused from sleep by the commotion, also did the same.
According to Canema, there were 12 of them in the house that evening before the fire broke out.
The four fatalities were trapped inside the bathroom of their bedroom, fire investigators said.
Two of the victims, presumed to be the Resando sisters, were huddled close together near the doorway of the bathroom.
Tacaldo said investigation is still ongoing to identify and locate the other occupants of the house.
He said the Bureau of Fire Protection might file charges against the owner of the house for installing grills on the bedroom windows, citing the Building Code of the Philippines, which provides that bedrooms should have no grills or there should be a manhole that can be used in case of emergency like fire. (Victor L. Camion/With PNA/Sunnex)