Fire destroys 5 buses in Pasay

MANILA, Philippines - A welder was seriously injured when a fire hit a bus garage in Pasay City shortly before dawn yesterday, destroying five buses.

Noel Reyes, a stay-in employee of the United Land Transport and Bus Co., is currently confined at the Pasay City General Hospital for second-degree burns, according to a Bureau of Fire Protection report.

Witnesses told probers they saw smoke coming from the garage at around 2 a.m., followed by an explosion and the fire a few minutes later.

Reyes reportedly tried to enter the burning office to save some equipment.

Firefighters put the flames under control an hour later. Arson investigators have yet to determine what caused the fire.