This is always a heart-stopper as these fires, not at all infrequent, are usually in really poor, congested squatter neighborhoods and result in hundreds of families losing what little they have. As I watched the thick black smoke out in the distance I could tell this was a bad one. It went on for hours and hours.
Today I saw this shocking picture on the front page of the International Herald Tribune (the story warranted a small paragraph in the Manila paper). Apparently two toddlers (age 1 and 3) who had been left alone at home died as well as a firefighter battling the blaze. 15,000 people have been left homeless. The fire, as is usually the case, just swept right through these flimsy, flammable, shanties - illegally constructed in a neighborhood with only one hydrant. The roads and walkways between the houses are often not big enough for fire engines to get through.
This is squatter life in metro Manila.
This photo was taken by Francis Malasig, European Press Photo Agency
No comments:
Post a Comment