DFA: No Pinoy casualties in Burkina Faso attack

Department of Foreign Affairs building. (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

There were no Filipino casualties in a terrorist attack in Burkina Faso that left 17 people dead, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Tuesday.

“There is no indication that any of the 25 Filipinos in the capital Ouagadougou have been harmed in the incident,” the DFA said in a statement, quoting a report from Ambassador Shirley Ho-Vicario of the Philippine Embassy in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.

Suspected Islamic extremists opened fire on Sunday at Aziz Istanbul, a Turkish restaurant frequented by expatriates, killing 17 and wounding eight others.

“The Philippine Embassy in Abuja, which has jurisdiction over Burkina Faso, remains in touch with members of the Filipino community there to ensure all of them are safe and accounted for,” the DFA said.

It also reported that there were no Filipinos among the victims of a deadly train collision in Alexandria, Egypt on Friday.

At least 49 people were killed and more than 100 injured in the train collision, said to be the deadliest in Egypt’s history.