The Japanese government plane which carries the bodies of nine Japanese victims and seven Japanese survivors in last week’s hostage taking at a remote Algerian gas plant, arrives at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Friday, Jan. 25, 2013. AP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines -The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that the bodies of three more Filipinos who were killed in the siege by Islamic militants of a remote natural gas plant in Algeria would be repatriated back in Manila Wednesday.
“We are expecting the arrival in Manila today (Wednesday) of the remains of three fatalities in the Algeria hostage crisis,” Raul Hernandez, DFA spokesperson, told reporters in a press briefing.
Four survivors of the hostage crisis, as well as the bodies of three fatalities, had been repatriated Tuesday.
Eight male Filipinos had been confirmed dead in the siege, while one remained missing.
The DFA said that it would not disclose the identities of the survivors and the fatalities, saying that it was upon request of their families and next of kin. He also declined to disclose the specifics on the flights of the survivors and fatalities.
Hernandez, in the press briefing, noted that the DFA was working with the concerned employment agency regarding the request made by the Philippine team in Algeria for DNA samples from the next of kin of the lone missing Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) “to facilitate the identification of his remains.”
“The lone missing OFW has already been identified but we want a positive confirmation of the remains…..The family has already been informed about it,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez has appealed to members of the media to respect “the privacy and dignity of all those who were involved in the incident” as he reiterated the families’ requests not to be approached for interviews.
Hernandez said that so far there were no discussions of issuing OFW deployment bans in Algeria but that the DFA continued to get assessments from the Philippine embassy there as to the security situation in the area.
Earlier reports had noted that dozens of foreigners were killed during a four-day standoff that ended in a bloody showdown with Algerian military forces.