7,000 people have been reported homeless after a fire in Lorega cemetery, Cebu City, destroyed 500 houses on March 18.
Many of the children who attend OM Philippines-Cebu’s Tuesday Evening Feeding Programme live in the cemetery; the little their families had has now been lost.
‘We saw that almost every house inside the cemetery was turned to ashes, others are still smoking’, said Mae Gabrillo from OM Philippines-Cebu, who visited the cemetery a few hours later. ‘There was no need to ask if our kids’ houses were burnt – the remnant of the fire showed it: charcoal, ashes and thick smog. The fire has devoured almost the entire cemetery, leaving our kids homeless.’
