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A four-year-old polio victim died after she was trapped inside their burning house on Friday morning in Boljoon town, south Cebu.
Firemen retrieved the burned body of Melisa Garganta from the ruins of their house in sitio Danao, barangay Lower Becirrel.
Melisa's mother Elina was so shocked upon learning of her daughter?s death that she was seen walking around dazed.
Melisa was left in the care of her five-year-old sister, while their mother was out washing clothes.
The fire occurred around 9:30 a.m. but was reported only around 11 a.m., according to SFO1 Julius Deposa, the town's fire marshal.
Deposa said their investigation showed that Melisa's older sister was playing with fire in the dirty kitchen below their house.
?She was heating the rice,? said Deposa in Cebuano.
The fire spread to the dried coconut leaves nearby, got bigger and eventually engulfed the house, which was made of light materials.
When the house started burning, Melisa's sister ran away, leaving the little girl behind.
As Melisa could not walk, she was not able to get out of the house.
Other residents were also not able to get to the area in time to save Melisa because their houses were located far apart from each other.
The firemen also had difficulty reaching the area as the house stood on a hilly portion, about 400 meters away from the highway and two kilometers away from the town proper.
The firetruck had to be parked along the highway.
The Garganta's neighbors tried to help by carrying pails of water.
Damage was pegged at P12,000.
According to Deposa, the mother has not returned yet, while her husband was left to fend for their other children.
