One Filipino seafarer is still missing in Beirut, the site of a powerful blast that left at least 135 dead and the entire city reduced to rubble.
Philippine Embassy in Lebanon Charge D’Affaires Ajeet Panemanglor said in an interview with news program Unang Hirit today that some Filipinos who were first reported missing have already been found.
Previously, 11 Filipino sailors were said to be missing, but the embassy said yesterday that 10 of them have been accounted for.
Read: At least 2 Filipinos killed, 6 wounded in Beirut blasts
“There’s one [seafarer] who is still missing. Two [Filipinos] are dead, unfortunately. For now, 24 [Filipinos] were injured, and out of that 24, that includes those seafarers who were reported missing but have since been found,” Panemanglor said in English and Filipino.
Some of those injured are currently staying in hospitals, while others are sheltered in hotels.
He said the embassy has already informed the families of those who have been injured and killed about what happened to their kin. The embassy is working on repatriating the bodies of the two dead Filipino workers.
“The embassy will do everything it can to send the remains of our countrymen as soon as possible. Today is the national day of mourning in Lebanon so government offices are closed. We can’t coordinate with them with regards to repatriating the remains [back to the Philippines] but as soon as offices open here we will work on sending [the bodies] back [to Manila],” he said.
According to the embassy official, Lebanon is the home of at least 33,000 Filipino migrant workers, most of whom are women.
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