Pinoys killed in Beirut blast rise to 4; 34 hurt

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday said two more Filipinos have been reported killed during the chemical explosions in Beirut, Lebanon, last Tuesday.

The total number of Filipinos killed is now four, while the number of injured stands at 34, the DFA said, quoting a dispatch from the Philippine Embassy in Beirut.

Embassy charge d’affaires Ajeet Panemanglor said two of the injured Filipinos remained in critical condition. They are currently confined and are being monitored at the Lebanon American University Medical Center-Rizk Hospital.

One Filipino household service worker also remains missing, Panemanglor said.

DFA Undersecretary for migrant workers affairs Sarah Lou Arriola, in a radio interview, said the remains of the four deceased Filipinos, all household service workers, are scheduled to be brought back to the Philippines on Aug. 17.

Meanwhile, DFA spokersperson Eduardo Meñez said the Philippine government was keeping open its option to send a medical team to Lebanon to assist in the treatment of more than 5,000 injured people.

“As [Arriola] explained, the best efforts at this point would be to search, locate and assist any Filipino affected by the explosion, and if they wish, repatriate them,” Menez told reporters over Viber chat.

Ardel Bustamante-Maglangit, one of the casualties, had planned a homecoming this September to rejoin her family in Molave town of Zamboanga del Sur province after being away for eight years.

Her grieving family now awaits the arrival of her remains.

The 43-year-old mother of three was in her employer’s home when the explosion happened. She was identified as among the first two Filipino casualties of the tragedy.

Milagros Sumaculob, 67, a resident of Barangay New Poblacion in Buenavista town on Guimaras Island, was supposed to return home to the Philippines for good this December.

Sumaculob died at the American University Hospital where she was brought after the blast.

In a post on Facebook, Sumaculob’s son Patrick said he was still shocked by what happened.