At least 2,500 families or about 10,000 people were left homless following a seven-hour fire that killed two children and razed some 1,000 houses in Manila Thursday night. Families whose houses at the corner of Oroquieta Street and Claro M. Recto Avenue were destroyed, were temporarily housed at a nearby basketball court, according to a Radio DZMM report Friday. But the area near the Light Rail Transit (LRT-2) station along Recto has become too crowded as the victims placed their belongings there. Security remained tight Friday at the nearby Manila City Jail after the fire partly burned at least three of its female detention cells. While no inmate was reported to have escaped during the fire, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology ordered increased patrols around the jail premises. Arson investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire that started at 4:39 P.M. at the second floor of the house of Susan Barrameda on Oroquieta Street. Arson investigators placed the damage to property at P10 million. The fire reached the general alarm and was placed under control at 11:48 P.M. Two children died in the fire – Wilben Mark Estrada, 3; and brother Ric Madamo, 1. Police gave no details on why the children were trapped in their apartment and about their family.
