MANILA (Xinhua): Two people died after a fire gutted a crowded residential community in Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, the city's disaster risk reduction and management office said late on Saturday.
The Bureau of Fire Protection said the victims, a woman and her son, were trapped when flame engulfed their home and 20 other houses in the neighborhood on Friday night.
It added that it took firefighters nearly three hours, until early Saturday morning, to completely extinguish the fire that affected at least 119 families or almost 500 residents.
The displaced families have been housed in makeshift tents set up by the local government in a school and covered court, local authorities said.
The bureau launched an investigation into the cause of the blaze. - Xinhua
