Pulilan, Bulacan – A retired policeman died in a fire that broke out at Our Lady of Mercy General Hospital in Barangay Longos, Pulilan, Bulacan, at approximately 2:24 a.m. on December 8.
Police reports indicate that the victim, identified as 73-year-old Marcelino Leonardo y Valenzuela, a resident of Barangay Poblacion, died due to respiratory failure.
At the time of the fire, 18 patients were admitted to the hospital. Firefighters and rescue teams worked quickly to evacuate the patients, some of whom were elderly or children, through windows using ladders at the back of the burning hospital. Seventeen of the patients were successfully transferred to La Consolation General Hospital and Marcelo Padilla Hospital in Plaridel town.
According to the Pulilan Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the transferred patients are now in stable condition. The BFP declared the fire out at around 5:40 a.m. and is currently investigating the cause of the incident.
