MANILA — Three girls aged five, 11, and 16 were killed after being trapped inside a burning two-story house in the Philippine capital, police said Wednesday.
Police officer Alejandro Ramos said the victims were asleep on the second floor when the fire broke out on Tuesday afternoon.
Ramos said their mother failed to save them as she was busy giving another child a bath on the ground floor.
Ramos said thick smoke and narrow alleyways prevented neighbors and firefighters from entering the house to extinguish the fire. It took firefighters an hour to put out the blaze.
The cause of the fire has been under investigation, police said.
XINHUA