MANILA— The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday said none were hurt from at least three Filipino families affected by the fuel tanker explosion in Bologna, Italy.
While none of them was injured, DFA Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Elmer Cato said the families’ apartment units were damaged from the blast.
The Filipino families, totalling 10 individuals, were evacuated by authorities and accommodated at a local hotel. The number includes two children and two infants.
Consul General Irene Susan Natividad informed the DFA that she is dispatching Vice Consul Flaureen Dacanay and Welfare Officer Jocelyn Hapal to Bologna to assist the affected families.
Natividad said the explosion blew off the doors and windows of the families’ apartment and damaged a number of articles inside the units.
When asked what assistance will be extended, Cato said the agency will make announcements once the team sent by the Consulate General reached the affected Filipinos.
“The team being sent there should be able to make a determination of what kind of assistance would be needed once they arrive in Bologna and talk to the families,” Cato told the Philippine News Agency.
Initial reports from the Philippine Consulate General in Milan said at least two persons died and more than 60 were injured in the explosion when a fuel tanker crashed into another vehicle on a major highway near the Bologna airport.
To date, there are an estimated 20,000 Filipinos in the Emilia Romagna Region where Bologna is located. (Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA)
