There are strong indications that some Filipinos may be included in the list of missing persons after the huge fire that hit the 24-storey Grenfell Residential Tower in West London.
This was confirmed by a Filipina survivor in an exclusive interview with ABS-CBN News.
Nida Mangoba is still in a state of shock while carrying some personal belongings as she moved to a temporary dwelling place with husband Marlon and their teen son.
Mangoba’s council flat was one of the residential flats reduced to ashes in a fire that lasted for almost 24 hours.
The Mangoba couple had been staying in their flat for 32 years.
Except for a few clothes, they were only able to retrieve their passports and plane tickets.
The family was set to visit their native province Pangasinan next month.
While holding back tears, Nida said she was thankful her family survived the tragedy.
She said the fire, which reportedly started at the 4th floor, spread rapidly to the upper floors. Nida was awakened by the smoke alarm.
Mangoba believes there are other Filipino families trapped on the upper floors.
The Philippine embassy in London reported two Filipinos were injured. One was reported to be in critical condition, a blind old man who is being treated at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and the other, a 7-month old baby girl who was discharged for drowsiness.
As of now, 12 are confirmed dead but the number of deaths may still rise as firefighters and medical units embrace for a complex retrieval and rescue operations.
Witnesses said people were trapped in the tower block, and that some jumped from windows in an effort to escape.
Emergency relief centers were activated in many areas to assist the homeless victims.
Filipino priest, Father Larry Galon, parish priest of St. John’s Church in Nottinghill visited one of the centers.
Father Galon witnessed how bodies were being retrieved by gallant firefighters.
The old Grenfell building has 127 residential flats. It underwent major refurbishing last year amounting to £8.6 million.
But there are still issues lingering about substandard safety features that included the non-existence of sprinklers.
Most of the flats were part of the housing project provided by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the 70s for low-income migrant families.
Many Filipinos, most of them living on pension, were able to avail of the council housing.
Re-published by ABS-CBNNews
