GENERAL SANTOS CITY (PNA) – Two persons were seriously injured while at least 50 families were rendered homeless after a fire razed a crowded residential area in Koronadal City, South Cotabato late Sunday night.

FO2 Moises Bilasa Jr., investigator of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Koronadal, said the fire broke out at 9:30 p.m. along a row of houses that were allegedly illegally occupying a portion of Purok Los Pigados in Pantua Village of Barangay Zone III in Koronadal City.

As of Monday morning, he said at least 23 houses located on two residential blocks were reported as totally destroyed by the fire, which reached more than three hours before it was declared as controlled by local firefighters.

He said the damage to properties, which include a newly-built boarding house, was initially placed at around P2 million.

Bilasa identified the injured victims as Helen Lasibal, 32, and retired policeman Alfredo Leal, 55, who both sustained burns on their bodies.

Lasibal is being treated at the South Cotabato Provincial Hospital for first degree burns, which affected at least 28 percent of her body, while Leal was rushed to the Davao City Medical Center due to second degree burns on about 40 percent of his body.

Citing an investigation, Bilasa said the fire was initially traced to a faulty electrical connection at a portion of the two-storey house allegedly owned by the Lasibal family.