Manila (AFP) – Eight people died, including six children, when a fire ripped through a poor community in the Philippines capital of Manila on Monday and destroyed 80 houses, a fire official said.
Another three people were injured in the blaze which started at around 5am on the second floor of a house in a crowded, informal settlement inside the sprawling campus of the University of the Philippines.
It took nearly two hours to extinguish the inferno, Senior Fire Officer Greg Bichayda told AFP.
An investigation into the cause was under way.
The victims were trapped inside their homes as “the fire spread quickly”, Bichayda said.
More details on Wednesday’s Borneo Bulletin
