BY ROY MABASA
Five more Filipinos were added in the list of those injured in the devastating explosions that rocked Beirut last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Monday.
Quoting reports from the Philippine Embassy in Lebanon, the DFA said the total number of Filipinos injured in the twin blasts is now 47.
According to the DFA, the injuries sustained by the Filipinos are “not life-threatening” as it credited the Embassy personnel for their immediate response.
“We are still thankful that the injuries sustained by our kababayans are not life-threatening. We also thank our Embassy personnel for taking prompt action,” the DFA’s Office of Migrant Workers Affairs said in a statement.
The DFA is expected to repatriate this week the remains of four Filipinos who died in the blasts along with some 400 OFWs through a chartered flight arranged by the department.
Aside from the deaths and injuries, two Filipinos are still unaccounted for or missing as of this time.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Embassy in Beirut has announced that it will begin to receive repatriation requests for the free voluntary mass repatriation program from August 18 to September 1, 2020.
This is to accommodate others who were not able to enlist in the August 16, 2020 repatriation flight to Manila.
There are currently an estimated 33,000 Filipinos in Lebanon, many of them working as household service workers. (Roy C. Mabasa)
