Fire Leaves Thousands Homeless In Southern RP

The fire in Sulu's Jolo town that left thousands of people without homes Monday Sept. 24, 2007. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 24 Sept) – Thousands of people were left homeless after a fire late Monday swept through a neighborhood in the southern Philippine province of Sulu.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or casualties and victims had blamed the fire department for the conflagration. They said the fire engines had no water and residents doused their houses with dirty water taken from canals and creeks.

“Now, we don’t know where to stay for the night. Our house is burned and we have nothing left,” said Ibrahim Abubakre, a fisherman.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the conflagration, but one woman said the fire started from a wooden house where an oil lamp fell to the floor. “That’s where it all started,” she said.

The fire ate up at least two blocks in downtown Jolo, said a man, Nasser Unting.

“My conservative estimate is that more than 500 houses are burned and thousands are without homes and that’s for sure,” he said, pointing to the direction where houses were burning.

“You look at the sky, it’s red, and that’s fire below. You can hear people screaming and crying and cursing and you can’t blame them,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)