By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter
AT LEAST three Filipinos were killed from smoke inhalation in a fire at a housing complex for foreign workers in Mangaf, Kuwait, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said on Thursday.
In a statement, the DMW said five other overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were hospitalized, two of whom were placed in intensive care.
“We are in touch with the families of all the affected OFWs, including the families of those two in critical condition and the families of the three fatalities,” Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo J. Cacdac said.
While six other Filipinos caught in the fire have been declared safe, five other OFWs in the housing complex are still unaccounted for.
“Secretary Cacdac instructed MWO-Kuwait (Migrant Workers Office in Kuwait) to stay in touch with hospital authorities until they can fully ascertain the status of the five unaccounted overseas Filipino workers,” the DMW said.
Mr. Cacdac has also ordered the MWO-Kuwait and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration to “see to the needs” of the OFWs affected by Wednesday morning fire that killed 49 people, based data released by Kuwait’s Interior Ministry.
