By Abigail Malalis
Sun Star
An early dawn fire gutted the public market of Valencia City in Bukidnon Wednesday, destroying P40 million worth of properties and goods, officials said.
No one was hurt in the incident. But Mayor Leandro Catarata said they suspect the fire was "intentionally done."
"I am requesting a full investigation because we suspect this was arson," Catarata told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.
Senior Inspector Michael Ponferada, Valencia City fire marshall, said the fire started around 4 a.m. at the dried fish section and quickly spread throughout the building.
He said 12 fire trucks from adjoining municipalities came to help but there was little else to do because the fire has already gutted the market.
"Dako gyud ni nga sunog ug nahurot gyud tanan nga mga baligya sa maong merkado (This is a big fire and all the goods in our market are all gone)," Ponferada said.
He said their investigation Wednesday morning was hampered by the presence of many looters who went to the burnt market looking for goods to salvage.
Ponferada said one of the angles they are investigating is arson.
"Daghan kaming nadawat nga taho nga sunogon ang merkado pero unconfirmed kadto (We received a lot of reports that the market will be razed but all those reports were unconfirmed)," he said.
Catarata said the market traders were the ones who were hit the hardest.
The traders he added have huge inventories of commercial goods in anticipation of the coming fiesta on August 28.
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Topic: Fire Destroys Public Market of Valencia, Bukidnon (Read 1206 times)