Remains of 2 other Filipinos killed in Qatar fire back home

MANILA, Philippines—The remains of two of the three Filipino workers, who perished in the fire that gutted an upscale Mall in Doha, Qatar almost two weeks ago, arrived in Manila Thursday night.

A Qatar Airways flight carrying the remains of Margie Yecyec and Julie Ann Soco arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 at around 10:25 p.m., according to reports reaching the media affairs division of the Manila International Airport Authority.

From Manila, the remains of the two were brought to their home provinces via connecting flights, the office added.

Earlier this week, the remains of another Filipino worker, Maribel Orozco, were brought home also via a Qatar Airways flight.

The three women worked as teachers at the Gympanzee Nursery School, a daycare center catering to the large expatriate community located inside the upscale Villagio Mall.

The blaze, which erupted at the nursery, killed 19 people, 13 of them children.

Soco reportedly made one final call on her cell phone during the blaze. “Help me, help me, I’m going to die,” she pleaded with her aunt, Luzviminda Soco, in the Philippines.

Luzviminda said she did not understand what the problem was and asked her niece to stop crying. The line was cut shortly after. Neither she nor Julie Ann’s mother, a caregiver in Egypt, was able to reach her again.

Qatar had reportedly issued arrest orders for the owner of the fire-ravaged mall and four others as investigations widened into possible safety lapses during the blaze.