3 missing, 100 hurt in Cavite fire
CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna, Philippines – Three workers were reported missing and more than a hundred others were injured in a fire that hit a factory at the Cavite Export Processing Zone in General Trias town on Wednesday night.
Among those injured were Nahgae Hideki, 44, technical supervisor, and Tushimitsu Endo, 66, consultant of the House Technologies Industries Ltd. (HTI), who were taken along with 27 employees to the General Trias Pediatric Hospital. Seventy-seven other employees were brought to the Divine Grace Medical Center.
Senior Superintendent Sergio Soriano, director of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), said workers at the neighboring plant said they heard an explosion at around 4:30 p.m., but the fire was reported at around 6:15 p.m.
Soriano said they have no information if there are people trapped in the building.
“Our people still cannot go inside,” he said.
The fire was placed under control at past noon yesterday.
Soriano said the fire started on the second floor of the HTI factory.
The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) dispatched fire trucks and fire chemical retardants to help put out the fire, as well as ambulances.
The PRC also set up welfare desks in hospitals where the victims were brought and near the factory to provide assistance to the victims and their families.
“Upon the request of Gov. Jesus Crispin Remulla and Rep. Luis Ferrer, we also prepared body bags for workers who may be trapped in the facility, although we are hoping that there are no casualties,” said PRC chairman Sen. Richard Gordon.
‘Biggest fire’
Charito Plaza, Philippine Economic Zone Authority director-general, said the fire was the biggest to hit any of the country’s ecozones.
Plaza said damage was estimated at P10 billion.
She said HTI is a subsidiary of the HRD Group of Companies, and is jointly owned by a Japanese and Singaporean company.
HTI manufactures bathroom fixtures, kitchen assembly, tiles, housing parts and components as well as siding boards.
The company is occupying six hectares of 88 hectares, where HRD facilities are located.
Plaza said HRD, including HTI, was last inspected in June and given permits for complying with the requirements.
Financial assistance
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) assured displaced and injured HTI workers of financial and other assistance.
“We are giving P20,000 to P30,000 financial grant. The DOLE will also facilitate emergency employment for displaced workers,” Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said.
Bello ordered an investigation on whether the owners of the factory violated labor laws as well as occupational safety and health standards.
As this developed, labor groups called for a strict enforcement of labor laws to prevent similar incidents.
Dennis Sequena, coordinator of Partido ng Manggagawa-Cavite, said the owner of the factory should also provide assistance to the affected workers.
Sequena said a fire also hit the HTI factory in 2012. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Non Alquitran
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