Huge fire rips through sprawling slum area in Philippine capital

MANILA – Raging orange flames and thick black smoke billowed into the sky on Nov 24 as a huge fire ripped through hundreds of houses in a closely built slum area of the Philippine capital Manila.

The Manila Fire District said around 1,000 houses were burned in the blaze that is thought to have started on the second floor of one of the homes.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Drone footage shared online by the city’s disaster agency showed houses at the Isla Puting Bato district of Manila razed to the ground.

The structures housed around 2,000 families, according to the fire department.

Village resident Leonila Abiertas, 65, lost almost all her possessions, but managed to save her late husband’s ashes.

“I only got the urn with the ashes of my husband,” a crying Ms Abiertas said. “I really don’t know how I can start my life again after this fire.”

Fire and disaster services deployed 36 trucks and four fire boats while the country’s air force sent in two helicopters to help extinguish the fire.

“That area is fire-prone since most of the houses there are made of light materials,” firefighter Geanelli Nunez said. AFP