Filipino worker injured in Gulf blast dies

ONE of the four Filipino workers, who were injured in the blast and fire that struck the oil platform they were working on in the Gulf of Mexico last week, passed away on Saturday, the Philippine Embassy said.

“The Embassy has been informed of the sad news that one of our

kababayans injured in the November 16 incident in the Gulf of Mexico, Avelino Tajonera, passed away early this morning in the presence of his loved ones,” Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. said. “The Filipino nation joins his family in grieving over their loss.”

Ambassador Cuisia said that Tajonera, who was one of two workers listed in critical condition, passed away on Friday (Saturday in Manila), shortly after the arrival of his widow and three children from Manila.

The cause of death of Tajonera, 49, a welder from Dinalupihan, Bataan, was not immediately known.

Ambassador Cuisia said that he was informed of Tajonera’s death by Randolf Malagapo, executive manager of the US-based D&R Resources, which hired him and the other injured Filipinos to work in Louisiana’s offshore oil and gas industry.

Malagapo informed the Embassy that the members of Tajonera’s family were able to see him at the Regional Burn Unit of the Baton Rouge General Hospital, shortly after they arrived from the Philippines on Thursday evening. He passed away a few hours later.

Both Ambassador Cuisia and Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim of the Philippine Consulate General in Chicago have expressed their condolences to the family of Tajonera and assured the family that the Philippine government will extend any assistance they may require.

Tajonera’s death brings to two the number of fatalities in the November 16 explosion and fire that also left three other Filipinos seriously injured and one missing. Ellroy Corporal, 42, died in the incident, while Jerome Malagapo, 28, has still not been found.

Lim said that three other Filipino workers who survived the incident are now back in Manila. The remains of Corporal, he said, will be repatriated to the Philippines on Tuesday.