BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The provincial government of Negros Occidental would be operating an assistance desk for families of Negrense overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) affected by the massive blast that rocked Beirut, Lebanon.
According to Provincial Administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz, the Public Affairs Office will set up the desk outside of their office, and their personnel will cater to the families who will ask for assistance.
Diaz said Negrenses who have families working in Beirut may visit the said office, especially those who were not able to contact their loved ones following the deadly explosion.
As of Wednesday, 12 Filipinos were reported missing following the explosions that hit the Port of Beirut in Lebanon, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported.
In an online briefing, DFA Undersecretary Sarah Arriola said 11 of them were seafarers while the other one was a household service worker.
Earlier, two Filipinos were reported dead and six were hurt. Two more Filipinos were reported injured, bringing the number of wounded Filipinos to eight. Based on initial investigation carried out by Lebanese authorities, the twin explosion in the Port of Beirut was linked to about 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in the port’s warehouse.
The resulting explosion was reported to be equivalent to 1.1 kilotons of TNT. The blast also generated a seismic event of magnitude 3.3 which was monitored by the United States Geological Survey.
The blast caused massive devastation in the Lebanese capital which killed at least 137 people, which included two OFWs, and injured around 5,000 people as of yesterday afternoon.
Around 33,000 Filipinos, mostly OFWs, are living in Lebanon at present, latest data from the DFA showed./PN
