Philippine slum fire leaves thousands homeless

Thousands of people have been made homeless after a fire in a shanty town in the Philippine capital. The fire, which was probably started by a faulty power line, lasted for seven hours. One person died and four were injured.

Reuters

The man who died escaped the fire but went back in to retrieve his air conditioner. Quezon City officials said 2,600 families, equating to about 15,000 people, had lost their homes and were now in need of relief assistance, especially drinking water and portable toilets.

A government official said illegal power lines that slum dwellers typically set up were the likely cause of the fire.

"A lot of people are illegally tapping the power lines. That was also believed to have been the cause of the last fire here six years ago," he said.

The death toll from the fire was relatively low because it broke out in the afternoon when everyone was awake and able to evacuate.

Nearly four million people in Metro Manila, about 35 percent of the city's population, live in overcrowded slums such as the one in Quezon City, according to the United Nations.

There were reports of looting in the aftermath of the fire.