Fire hits 2 warehouses; dead man found
Firefighters brave the thick coming out of burning two warehouses in barangay San Roque, Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
The charred body of a still-unidentified man was found in one of two warehouses gutted by fire in San Roque, Cebu City yesterday afternoon.
The body was pinned by a burned motorcycle, one of at least 70 motorcycles destroyed in the Jan. 2 fire that struck the warehouse rented by Du Ek Sam Inc. in Arellano Boulevard, said arson investigator SF03 Daniel Relatado Jr.
The adjacent warehouse rented by EMBL Enterprises also caught fire, destroying furniture, helmets and other items inside.
The fire started in the adjacent warehouse rented by EMBL Enterprises. A concrete wall separates the two warehouses.
The company owner spoke to fire investigators but no estimate of property damage was given.
One Honda CRV and one delivery truck were damaged. Several other motorcycles and four delivery trucks were spared.
Homicide police still have to identify the fatality and determine whether he was an intruder.
Christopher Torres, a worker of barangay San Roque, said an unidentified man was last seen at the nearby Meridian Container Yard last December 31.
The man allegedly climbed up container vans of Meridian near the warehouse owned by the Madrigal family and was not seen again.
Neighbors speculate that he may have been a thief or a homeless vagrant.
Security guard Rolando Angcay, 41, who was detailed in the destroyed warehouses, said the guard of Meridian asked him about 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve if he had noticed a man roaming around in the area.
Angcay said no.
The guard said the warehouse rented by Du Ek Sam was last opened at 2 p.m. on December 31.
The EMBL warehouse last opened on Dec. 22. Since then, Angcay said, no one had entered the two warehouses.
The fire was reported at 1:05 p.m. and was placed under control after 10 minutes. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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