Fire kills 5 children in Philippines slum

Five children left at home alone and locked in by their parents were killed in a fire in a slum at a district of the Philippine capital on Monday, firefighters said.

The victims, four boys and one girl, aged between 1 and 12 years old suffered burns and suffocation, said fire marshall Jones Silvano.

An initial investigation showed that the fire began in the victims’ three-storey house in the Tondo district of Manila.

Two of the children were reportedly playing with a lighter and ignited some clothes.

Their father was at work, while their mother had gone out to buy food and locked the door from the outside, trapping the siblings inside when the fire struck.

One of the siblings, a nine-year-old boy, survived by jumping from a window on the second floor, Silvano said.

“The boy called out to his elder brother to also jump, but his brother opted to stay with the younger siblings,” he said.

The fire quickly spread and damaged a total of 40 houses, leaving about 500 people homeless.

Firefighters had a hard time accessing the area due to congestion and small alleyways.