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| The Beirut blast that flattened many buildings and killed about 100 people |
Two overseas Filipino workers are among an estimated 100
people killed in an explosion that rocked Beirut on Tuesday, and left eight
other Filipinos wounded and 11 missing, Malacañang reported today, Aug 5.
The massive blast at the Lebanese capital’s port area left
some 4,000 people wounded
and devastated a large part of the district, state-run media
reported, citing the Red Cross.
Georges Kettaneh, the secretary-general of the Lebanese Red
Cross, told Lebanon
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Lebanese Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi told a local TV
station it appeared the blast was caused by more than 2,700 tons of ammonium
nitrate that detonated in a warehouse where it had been stored ever since it
was confiscated from a cargo ship in 2014.
Video footage of the explosion showed thick gray smoke
billowing from a low-rise building next to the port. Within seconds, the smoke
turned brick red and orange as the ground exploded, sending up a mushroom cloud
several hundred feet into the air like a nuclear explosion.
The explosion flattened a wide swath of buildings and
wrecked the front side of a skyscraper on the waterfront.
In Manila
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III and Presidential
Communications Secretary Martin Andanar also promised government assistance to
those who were wounded.
“We condole with the families of the two Filipino workers
who perished in the tragic accident in Beirut Lebanon ,”
Bello
“We also note with sadness that 11 others of our OFWs, all
sea-based workers docked at the port
of Beirut , are still unaccounted for,”
Bello
He added that the labor department is coordinating closely
with Beirut authorities to locate them and work
for their safe return to the Philippines
Andanar issued a separate statement that assured help from
the government for all the victims of the tragedy.
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“We assure everyone that our government is ensuring the
safety of our OFWs there through the Philippine Embassy in Beirut
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| Sacular showing off her injured head and hands in a Facebook post |
One of those injured was OFW Melda Sacular, who said she was
in her room when the explosion happened. She said part of her scalp was sliced by
a shard from the glass door in her employer’s house. Both her hands were also
injured.
Even her employer was injured in the head, Sacular said.
She said she had just finished wiping the door when she saw
the explosion in the port area and ran for cover. Suddenly, their door was
blown out.
“Naliligo ako sa dugo pagkatapos lumipad ang salamin na
pinto,” she said in a live selfie video she posted on Facebook.
Rescuers came to the house after awhile and took the maid
and her employer to the hospital. She thanked her rescuers who also assisted
many other people who also needed help.
Jehanie Silva Macuro said her cousin Bheng Arguelles was
badly shaken during the blast.
“My whole body is still shaking until now,” Arguelles said
in a message to friends.
“Lahat ng front glass door (and) window basag.”
Macuro said Argeuelles has been working in Beirut
As of Dec 31 last year, there were 34,000 Filipinos in Lebanon
The late Ambassador Bernardita Catalla, who had been consul
general in Hong Kong for three years, served as the country’s top envoy to Lebanon
