Body of 3rd Pinoy in bridge collapse found

This picture taken on October 1, 2019 shows the wreckage of a fishing boat after a bridge collapsed in the Nanfangao fish harbour in Suao township in Ilan county, eastern Taiwan. -AFP

The body of a Filipino fisherman reported missing after the collapse of a bridge in Taiwan on Tuesday has been found, the labor department said.

Romulo Escalicas Jr. became the third fisherman killed in the incident, after the bodies of two other Filipinos were found on Wednesday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Taipei-based Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco) will provide assistance in shipping the remains of the two earlier fatalities—Andree Abregana Serencio and Gorge Jagmis Impang.

In an update, the DFA said Meco continues to coordinate with Taiwanese authorities in the search for one more Filipino fisherman who, along with three Indonesians, remains missing.

10 injured

Earlier reports said at least 10 persons, including five Filipinos, were injured when the Nanfang’ao bridge in Yilan county collapsed.

Meco said the injured Filipino fishermen have already been treated for minor injuries.

The Philippine Overseas Labor Office and nongovernment organizations have provided the injured fishermen financial assistance while their employers or brokers have shouldered their hospital expenses.

Bishop Ruperto Santos, chair of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ episcopal commission on migrants and itinerant people, called on Filipino priests in Taiwan to assist the victims and their families.

Taiwan has a huge fishing industry that employs lowly paid migrant workers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.—WITH A REPORT FROM AFP