3 medical students killed in Nueva Ecija fire
Written by admin on February 9th, 2010Three female medical students were killed in a predawn fire that razed a town health center in Nueva Ecija province on Tuesday, a radio report said.
Doctors at the Cabiao town health facility said a fourth medical student, a male, was rescued from the blaze and was in stable condition.
“Mga 23-24 ang edad (The fatalities were aged 23 to 24),” Dr. De Leon of the town health center said in an interview on dzBB radio.
De Leon declined to name the fatalities, saying the health facility’s officials are waiting for the victims’ relatives to come and claim the remains.
He said that those killed were from the St. Luke’s College of Medicine’s department of community and family medicine in Quezon City.
“Nagpapadala sila ng kanilang medical students, one-month rotation sa curriculum (St. Luke’s sends medical students for a one-month rotation as part of the students’ curriculum),” he said.
Initial investigation showed the three fatalities and a male colleague rushed to the comfort room after the fire broke out at the two-story health center.
Arson investigators said the four were sleeping in the health center and were jolted awake by the fire.
They ran to the comfort room but they were suffocated. The male intern was eventually rescued when firefighters forced open the comfort room door.
The two-story clinic was a project of the local government in cooperation with St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. The project has been going on for the last six years, dzBB radio reported.
Cabiao is a second-class municipality with a population of 68,382 people in 11,655 households.
