mn: Arson eyed in deadly hospital fire

[Balita News]

FIRE officials were ordered yesterday to look closely into the predawn
fire that struck the Lung Center of the Philippines amid reports that
it could have been intentionally set off.

Interior Secretary Epimaco Velasco ordered Supt. Carlito Romero, chief
of the Quezon City fire department, to submit a comprehensive report
on his findings as soon as possible.

Romero said arson had not been ruled out as a possible cause of the fire.

At least 19 people, most of them patients trapped at the surgical and
medical intensive care units, have been confirmed dead.

Only six so far have been identified. The latest was Jose Garcia,
whose body had a stainless steel implant on his left thigh bone.

Two others--one a nursing aide and the other, the brother of one
patient--remained missing until late yesterday.

Relatives of patients who were believed trapped in the two ICUs and
still could not be accounted for, waited anxiously yesterday inside a
makeshift tent in front of the Lung Center's left wing.

Jerome Baylen, professor of anthropology at the University of the
Philippines, supervised efforts to identify charred bodies found on
their beds by firemen and rescue workers.

Baylen studied body marks and other data provided by the victims'
relatives and tried to match them with those found on the bodies. He
also used as reference hospital records, including those showing on
what bed each patient had been confined.

Aside from Garcia, the five others whose bodies had been identified
were Candido Macarubio, Edgardo Imperio, Lolita Caing, Dalisay de
Jesus and Marciano Angel, who died on arrival at the East Avenue
Medical Center.

Patients believed trapped at the ICUs and still unaccounted for were
Simeona Raymundo of Pasig City, Retrogino Mangalindan, Benjamin Sunga,
Victor de Jesus, Felino Pascual of Valenzuela, Metro Manila, Editha
Dismaya of Pangasinan, Benedicto Quitco of Navotas, Romana Orahu,
Ernesto Magsumbol, Flora Laxamana, Azucena Garais of Caloocan City,
Augusto Kakilala and Edgar Magdatu.

Two bodies found at the surgical ICU were believed to be those of
Kakilala and Magdatu. Most of the other bodies were found at the
medical ICU.

Also missing are Normito Magdatu, brother of Edgar, and a nursing aide
identified only as Mar.

The Magdatus' sister, Delia, said Normito was one of those who took
turns watching over Edgar, who had undergone a lung operation after
being stabbed five times during a fight in their native Tayabas, Quezon.

Delia criticized hospital employees for saving themselves and the
center's equipment first before the patients.

"I sent my brother here to be treated, not incinerated," she said as
she wept.

She was among those waiting for word about their relatives inside the
tent outside the Lung Center.

Mar, the nursing aide, usually worked at the Lung Center from 3 to 11
p.m., but colleagues reported seeing him in the premises at the height
of the fire, which broke out at 2:20 a.m. and lasted for more than 11
hours.

Mar was the only one not around during an assembly of Lung Center
employees called yesterday morning.

Enrique Magsumbol, whose brother Ernesto is one of the missing
patients, said his brother could be identified through a medallion he
wore around his neck.

A doctors' group, the Alliance of Health Workers, had said the fire
might have something to do with a government plan to sell the hospital.

Emma Manuel, alliance president, said the fire would hasten
privatization and lead to the layoff of more 500 regular and casual
employees of the hospital.

Rep. Mario Ty, head of the House committee on health, ruled out faulty
wiring as cause of the fire and called for an "intense" investigation.

"It is my opinion that probably there must be some sabotage here
because of the fact that there is discontent among the workers,
knowing that the administration has plans to privatize this hospital,"
he told radio station dzBB.

Jimmy, son-in-law of missing patient Victor de Jesus, 67, who was
suffering from emphysema, said they had transferred De Jesus to the
Lung Center only a day before the fire because they could no longer
afford the fees at Medical City in Mandaluyong City.

Now, De Jesus is nowhere to be found.

Another missing patient, Azucena Garaiz, 39, of Barangay Malaria,
Caloocan City, was supposed to have been moved out of the medical ICU
around 8 a.m. yesterday.

Her family heard of the fire over the radio, promptly went to the
scene and saw firemen unable to approach the medical ICU, which was
already engulfed by flames.

Romero, the city fire department chief, said at least 85 percent of
the two-wing building was destroyed by the fire. Valuable records and
costly equipment were also burned.

Fire investigators quoted many witnesses as saying the fire probably
started at either the auditorium or the adjacent dietary section, both
on the ground floor.

The flames rapidly spread to other parts of the building through the
ducts of its centralized ventilation system.

Previous reports said the fire started at the central area of the
second floor.

Several employees, patients and guests who were inside the hospital
when the fire broke out said devices like the alarm and the sprinkler
system failed to work.

"I pressed, pulled and pounded (at the fire alarm conduit), but no
alarm sounded," said Wilhelmina Nicolas, a nursing aide at the
pulmonary ward on the ground floor.

She said thick, black smoke came out of the air vents and quickly
filled all 15 rooms in the ward, minutes before the lights went out.

The sprinkler system and the elevators were rendered useless by the
power failure, she said.

A patient, Elvira Tungcol, 41, said she and her attendant were able to
flee by following voices and penlights from their smoke-filled room at
the building's left wing.

They found their way to the right-wing door of the center.

Dr. Fernando Melendres, deputy director for medical services, told the
Inquirer all hospital personnel "tried their best to rescue and
evacuate all patients and their visitors as soon as the fire broke out."

He said most of the victims, who were hooked to respirators and other
life-support devices, probably died even before the flames engulfed them.

"The nurses told me they applied manual methods to sustain the
patients at the ICUs. It takes three persons to get a bed out of the
ICU. What can the nurses do? Smoke and flames caused by exploding
oxygen tanks had already enveloped the room, and they have no choice
but to save their own lives first," he said.

President Ramos released P2 million as rescue and relief fund during a
surprise visit to the Lung Center at 10 p.m. Saturday to check on
post-fire operations.

"I'll be happy to approve the release of any additional funds as may
be needed," he said.

He added that Defense Secretary Fortunato Abat, chair of the National
Disaster Coordinating Council, was expected to submit additional fund
requests.

After the visit, the President directed Secretaries Carmencita Reodica
of Health, Gregorio Vigilar of Public Works and Abat to submit a
preliminary estimate of the damage to the government-owned hospital.

"We can take up the details at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, and the
long-term plan can be started on the basis of the preliminary survey,"
he told them.

Earlier, Reodica promised P1 million for the victims' relatives and
employees.

Abat, through the Office of Civil Defense, and Quezon City Mayor
Ismael Mathay Jr., through the Department of Public Order and Safety,
separately pledged P10,000 each for the victims' families. With
reports from Juvelyn Ramos, AFP and AP

(Philippine Daily Inquirer )

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