A fire swept through a shantytown in a metropolitan Manila suburb early Sunday, killing five children whose parents had locked them in a room before going to a market, the city's fire chief said. Another sibling was injured in the three-hour fire in Valenzuela city, believed to have started when a candle either fell over or ignited a wooden wall, Fire Chief Inspector Agapito Nacario said. The blaze destroyed 97 shanties and left more than 500 people homeless, Nacario was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
