MikeLigalig.com

A fire at a budget hotel in the northern Philippines has killed 15 people and injured 12, officials say.

The blaze began on the ground floor of the five-floor hotel in in the city of Tuguegarao, in Cagayan province.

It burned for several hours, gutting the building. Most guests were asleep when the fire began but dozens were rescued or managed to escape.

Nine of those killed were reported to be nursing students who had been preparing for a licensing exam.

Some firefighters wept and prayed as they retrieved the bodies of the dead, reports said.

"Their families spent fortunes to send these children to school, only to see them end that way," an official said.

Correspondents say hundreds of people die each year in fires in the Philippines, where many buildings are built with inflammable materials, and narrow streets often make access for firefighters difficult.

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