2 Filipinos die in huge Beirut blast

TWO Filipinos were among the more than 70 people killed in a massive explosion that rocked Lebanon’s capital of Beirut on Tuesday.

THE EXPLOSION flattened MUCH OF THE city’s port, damaging buildings across the capital and sending a giant mushroom cloud into the sky.

It left 3,000 injured, with bodies buried IN THE RUBBLE, officials SAID.

The two Filipino fatalities, still unidentified, WERE DOMESTIC WORKERS WHO were in their employers’ home during

heir employers’ home during the explosion.

Eight other Filipinos were injured while 12 more were missing, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

Among the missing were seafarers, the embassy said.

The Philippine embassy in Beirut said one of the injured Filipinos is in critical but stable condition. The rest — all crew of M/VOrient Queen cruise ship — sustained minor injuries.

“Two of those injured were currently recuperating at the Embassy Chancery after receiving treatment from a hospital. They are part of a group of 13 Filipino seafarers whose ship was docked some 400 meters away from the blast zone,” the embassy said in a statement.

“The other 11 have been reported missing. In addition, another Filipino household service worker has been reported to be missing as well, bringing the total number of missing Filipinos to 12,” it added.

The DFA “is now in touch with the authorities for efforts to locate and ensure the safety of the missing Filipinos,” said DFA Undersecretary Sarah Arriola during a virtual briefing.

DFA Assistant Secretary Eduardo Meñez said in a text message on Wednesday there were about 33,000 Filipinos in Lebanon, 75 percent of them in the greater Beirut area.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the DFA “will try as much help as it can out of its own resources not just to OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) but Lebanese communities [as well]. [It] would be nice to send a medical team when flights resume if still needed. It is what we are known for.”

Locsin tweeted that the “humongous explosives stockpile must come from the endless conflicts into which the Lebanese are dragged or drawn by many contending military forces in the area. It was once the jewel of tolerance, sophistication and freedom in the Middle East crown.”

“The marching orders of the President (Rodrigo Duterte) was to repatriate Filipinos [in Lebanon] who wanted to return home. That was also the constant directive of Secretary Locsin — be ready to bring everyone home. They just need an exit visa,” Arriola said in Filipino.

Arriola said the embassy staffers were all safe. In the aftermath of the explosion, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. on Wednesday said the Philippine government would work hard to bring home Filipinos from war-torn Lebanon.

“I think the government will continue with its repatriation of nationals who wish to be evacuated from the area. Lebanon as we know is war-torn,” Roque said during an interview with CNN Philippines.

In a statement later in the day, Roque said the Philippines “is in solidarity with the people of Lebanon in this period of great grief.”

“We are one with the families and friends of Filipinos who passed or were injured during the event,” he added.