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Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
National
Soumya Karlamangla

2-year-old is third fatality in San Juan Capistrano condo fire

Jan. 31--A 2-year-old boy whose mother and brother died from injuries suffered in a condominium fire in San Juan Capistrano last week has also died, officials said.

Iker Liborio died at 2:56 p.m. Friday at Children's Hospital at Mission in Mission Viejo, according to the Orange County coroner's office.

His 3-year-old brother Jaiden Liborio died Jan. 20 -- the day the fire broke out -- and the boys' mother, Maricela Sanchez, died on Jan. 21, according to Lt. Jeff Hallock of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Initially, 80 people were displaced by the fire that swept through the condominium in the 26500 block of La Zanja Street. Of the nine people injured in the blaze, Sanchez and her sons are the only three who have died.

"From the beginning they were the victims that were the most critical," Hallock said.

Authorities said the Jan. 20 fire was sparked by a child playing with a lighter. The flames spread quickly, consuming the mattresses that lined the floor of the four-bedroom unit where the two boys and their mother reportedly lived with 14 other family members, officials said.

Authorities said the unit did not have working smoke detectors.

Firefighters pulled the family from the fiery condominium complex. Others managed to escape on their own and with the help of neighbors as flames and smoke overwhelmed them.

Fire officials said eight units were damaged by flames and smoke. Of the eight, two were destroyed.

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