LEGAZPI CITY – Five people died in a fire that broke out at the Sorsogon City Public Market on Saturday night, the provincial government confirmed Sunday.
The provincial and city governments will shoulder the victims’ burial expenses, according to Salvador Mendoza, chief of the Sorsogon Provincial Information Office.
Mendoza said officials were scheduled to meet to discuss immediate assistance for affected vendors and businesses.
“Governor Edwin Hamor immediately proceeded to the scene and directed the Provincial Engineering Office to prepare a vacant lot along Sorsogon City Coastal Road for temporary stalls for affected vendors and tenants,” Mendoza said.
Heavy equipment have arrived at the proposed site to prepare the temporary marketplace for vendors resume operations while recovering from their losses.
“A backhoe and a grader are also on their way to further speed up the work in the area today,” Mendoza said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Bicol (DSWD-5) has extended relief and financial assistance to families affected by the fire, particularly those of the five fatalities.
DSWD-5 Director Norman Laurio mobilized the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program to provide immediate financial and psychosocial support.
Social workers visited the bereaved families to provide psychological first aid.
The agency’s Crisis Intervention Section satellite office also provided PHP10,000 in AICS cash assistance each of the five bereaved families to help cover their basic needs while preparing for the wake.
Funeral assistance was also being arranged to help cover burial expenses.
The DSWD team will also visit hospitalized survivors to provide psychosocial support and financial assistance.
The fire broke out about 11 p.m. Saturday, damaging the market’s main building, which housed the meat, poultry and seafood sections, as well as parts of the dry goods section and the small eateries on the second floor.
