Orphans die in Philippine fire

Orphans die in Philippine fire

DUMAGUETE, Philippines (AFP): Five children burned to death when fire razed an orphanage in this central Philippine city, a fire official said yesterday.

Fire marshal Ignacio Sy said four other people, including an American who ran the orphanage and his Filipina wife, suffered second-degree burns and were being treated at a hospital following the blaze, which occurred shortly before midnight Saturday.

Firefighters rescued 19 other children unharmed, he said. The five killed, aged between five months and three years, were trapped inside an "isolation room" on the second floor of the building where they were being kept because they were sick, Sy said.

Firefighters said the blaze quickly engulfed the two-story building. Flames in the hallway of the second floor prevented firefighters from rescuing the five sick children, they said.