Man, 3 kids dead in Maguindanao fire

COTABATO CITY— A father and his three children died in a fire that razed at least five houses in Sultan Kudarat town, Maguindanao province, early morning Tuesday, police said. Chief Supt. Graciano Mijares, regional police director in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Daemus Araneta and his children Vina, Dagul and Mujahid, all elementary school pupils, died when their house in Barangay Katuli was struck by fire at 2 a.m. Araneta’s wife is working in the Middle East as a domestic helper.