Five people, including three minors, died after a fire razed a house in Cagayan de Oro City early Saturday.

In a radio interview, Senior Fire Officer (SFO1) Imelda Barasan, Cagayan De Oro City Fire District investigator, said the fire hit the two storey house located at Corales extension in the city before dawn.

Barasan said the victims were sleeping when the fire started at the second floor of the house, mostly made of wooden materials.

“No other houses were burned because their house has firewall but the two residential storey do not have other exit except from the main entrance which is located at the ground floor,” she said.

“When the occupants knew that there is fire, the ground floor is already burning. They were at the second floor because their bed room is at the second floor,” she added.

Barasan said the incident has resulted to the death of five occupants that include minors with age ranging from 10 to 13 years old.

“There were nine occupants; four of them were able to exit through the hole of the air con. They intentionally detached the air con to be able to exit,” she said.

Barasan said based on initial assessment, the estimated damage caused by the fire incident reached to around P100,000.

Investigators have yet to determine the cause of fire. Robina Asido/DMS