The Filipinos were on-board a van late Sunday night when they were hit by a wrong way SUV, killing driver Anthony Castillon, 35, and three passengers—Joey Mangonon, 35, Josefina Velarde, 52, and still-unnamed 39-year-old Filipina, Migrante said in a statement.
“Another female victim, a 28-year-old Josephine Tamondong who suffered serious injuries, was brought to a local hospital, and is now reportedly out of danger,” it said.
The SUV driver, Tyler James Stevens, 29, of Cochrane, Alberta, was unhurt, and is now facing multiple charges including four counts of impaired driving causing death.
“We extend our sincerest condolences to the families of the victims. We know how sad it is to lose someone in the family. Our thoughts are with you during this difficult time,” said Migrante Canada secretary general Christopher Sorio.
Reports said that Castillon, Mangonon, Velarde, and Tamondong had worked at Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel in downtown Edmonton, Alberta. The unnamed victim worked in a local cleaning agency.
Many Filipino migrant workers in Alberta are employed under f Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
Sorio called on Philippine officials in Canada “to provide all necessary support to the victims’ families in the Philippines”, including the repatriation of the bodies of the four Filipinos.
“It’s the responsibility of the Philippine government to provide full support to all Filipino nationals particularly in this kind of circumstances,” he said, citing provisions of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Magna Carta for Overseas Filipino Workers.