The burnt bodies of the victims were found at the second floor of this house. (CDN PHOTO/NORMAN MENDOZA AND CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
An octogenarian and her teenage granddaughter died in a fire that hit Purok Kapayas, Barangay Canjulao, Lapu-Lapu City at 2:18 p.m. yesterday which ate up 16 houses.
The burned remains of Aurea Jumao-as, 86, and her granddaughter Jane Ycong, 14, were recovered at the second floor of the two-storey house where they both lived.
Jumao-as, who could no longer walk unassisted, was found near the terrace while Ycong was found in her room.
Edna Ycong, mother of Jane and daughter of Jumao-as, said she was at the ground floor with some of her children when fire suddenly broke out.
Ycong said she immediately went upstairs but was met by fire and smoke, prompting her to go back down and run outside the house.
Lapu-Lapu fire investigator Hadjiludin Samonte said that the burned houses made of concrete and light materials were located almost a hundred meters away from the main road.
Initial investigation pointed to faulty electrical wiring as the possible cause of the fire. Total damage was pegged at P550,000.
Prior to the Canjulao fire, a two-storey concrete house in Sangi Road, Barangay Pajo, was partially burned after an LPG tank exploded due to a leak.
Firefighters were immediately able to contain the blaze which damaged the kitchen.