Phil. Daily Inquirer, Nov. 28, 2005
CAMP VICENTE LIM, LAGUNA—Seven people were killed when a leaking liquefied petroleum gas tank exploded and caused a one-hour fire that razed a duplex inside a subdivision in Barangay Buhay na Tubig in Imus, Cavite early yesterday.
Supt. Efren Castro, Imus police chief, identified the fatalities as Edwin Barnes, 50, his wife Virginia, 50, and their children Angelo, 16, and Gelli, 12; Nina Pilapil, 23, and her siblings CI, 17, and Shay, 15.
Castro said neighbors of the victims in Villa Primarosa told arson investigators that before the fire started, they heard a deafening explosion from one of the houses at around 6:30 a.m.
After the explosion, fire quickly spread from the basement of the house rented by the Pilapils and subsequently engulfed the adjacent house that was being rented by the Barneses.
He said the explosion apparently started from a leaking LPG from the kitchen of the Pilapils at the basement of the house.
Castro said the fire was declared under control an hour later.
He said the firemen tried, but failed, to rescue the victims who were all asleep when the fire started.
Because the second floor of the establishment had steel grills, the victims were all trapped, Castro added.
“The fire quickly spread to the ground floor so the victims had no recourse but to escape (from) the second floor. Unfortunately, the building had steel grills. They were held there and could not escape,” Castro told the Inquirer in a mobile phone interview.
The local police and fire officials were conducting an investigation to find out what really caused the deadly fire, he said.
Police are studying the possibility of filing a case against the owner of the establishment as the houses had no fire exits, which is a violation of the local fire code.
