- A family of four was killed Wednesday in a pre-dawn fire caused by lit candles left unattended during a power outage in the southern Philippines, police said.
MANILA: The fire started on the ground floor of a four-story building in Cotabato City, 960 km south of Manila, police chief Senior Superintendent Willie Dangane said.
He said a couple and their children aged 8 and 6 were on the second floor of the building and were trapped by the fire. "The four victims died due to suffocation," he said. "Based on initial investigation, the victims failed to extinguish lit candles on the ground floor during a brownout, causing the fire."