PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, (PNA)– A teenager and an elderly woman died in a fire that engulfed and razed a two-storey home in Barangay Mandaragat shortly after midnight Sunday.
The victims, who were trapped in their rooms during the fire, were identified as Jethro Evangelista, 17 and Gregoria Benitez, 75 said to be a house-helper.
The teener was the eldest son of Philippine Air Force (PAF) Col. Carlos Evangelista and Jing Rodriguez-Evangelista, a radio personality and employee of the Provincial Health Office (PHO) of the provincial government of Palawan.
As of this writing, investigators of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) are still determining the cause of the fire that reportedly started on the roof of the second floor of the Evangelista home.
Mandaragat barangay chairman Gerry Abad, who confirmed the death of the two, said Col. Evangelista tried to save his son and the elderly woman but when he opened the door of the room where they are sleeping, the fire had already engulfed the whole room.
Col. Evangelista and his wife jumped through the second floor to escape, according to the barangay chairman. They were brought to the Western Command Hospital for emergency medical attention as they were also wounded.