Provincial officials here announced Friday that they have taken steps to bring home the bodies of at least eight locals who died in a fire in Quezon City at dawn on Thursday, but said that victims must first be positively identified.

Rizal town Mayor Sonny Pablo told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that provincial and municipal authorities are working together to ensure that the families of those killed are provided with the necessary assistance during their time of grief.

The mayor arrived in Manila early Friday and proceeded to Archangel Funeral Homes in Sampaloc, Manila to facilitate the release of the remains.

He said that the Rizal municipal government has provided for the transportation of family members from the province to Metro Manila as part of efforts to identify the charred remains before eventually bringing them home.

There are unconfirmed reports that most of the 16 fatalities in the tragedy were Occidental Mindoro natives.

For her part, Mary Jolence Soriano, officer-in-charge of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) in Rizal town, said that out of the eight fatalities initially identified as from Mindoro, six were from their town, while two others were from Sablayan town.

“We are now traveling (in a boat) to Manila from Occidental Mindoro, with the families of those eight who were reported to have died. We are assisting them” she disclosed in an email to the PNA.

It was also reported that some of the family members who already arrived in Metro Manila were immediately brought to the Philippine National Police’s DNA laboratory for collection of samples, which may hasten the identification of the victims’ remains.

Meanwhile, Pablo said his office has also reached out to Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian for assistance to the families.

He disclosed that Gatchalian has responded positively to the request but was not specific as to what sort of help the DSWD would extend.

Occidental Mindoro Governor Eduardo Gadiano had earlier instructed the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office and the Provincial Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Office to pick up the cadavers of the fire victims from a funeral home in Manila. (PNA)