A three-year-old girl died while her three siblings sustained severe burns after being trapped in their house at Sitio Kabatuan Barangay Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City at 9 p.m. last Tuesday.
Senior Fire Officer Zenir Seno identified the victim as Merry Julian Castillano, the second youngest of eight children of construction worker Dante Castillano.
The child fell while walking down the burning stairs and got trapped in the fire, resulting to her death.
Castillano and his eldest child, 12-year-old Jeraldine Castilliano rescued most of the kids.
They were unable to rescue Merry after flames engulfed the shanty which was located some distance away from neighbors.
Jeraldine Castilliano sustained burns while rescuing her siblings Mary Jeralyn Castilliano and Dante Castilliano Jr.
They were rushed to the nearest hospital by neighbors who helped put out the fire before the firefighters arrived.
The cause of the fire is under investigation but the family’s neighbors said that the Castillano’s often use mosquito coil at night.
The family uses solar lamps since they don’t have electricity. Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza sent health personnel to attend to the family.
The elder Castillano had just lost his wife who died giving birth to their youngest, a four-month-old baby.
Damages were pegged at P2,000 since the shanty was made of light materials, Seno told reporters.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
