The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday confirmed that six Filipinos died in the hostage crisis in Algeria and four others are still missing.
In a press conference, DFA spokesperson Undersecretary Raul Hernandez made the announcement but declined to give details on the identities of the male fatalities.
Hernandez said that based on reports received from the Philippine government’s team in Algeria and the country’s embassy in London, 26 Filipinos worked at the In Amenas gas plant that was attacked by al-Qaida-linked gunmen last week. The list was confirmed by Algerian Foreign Ministry and the employers of Filipino workers there, he said.
He said that 12 Filipinos were accounted for and confirmed alive. He said that of the 12, four were being treated in Al Azhar hospital in Algiers, four were in Mercure Hotel awaiting repatriation, and four have been repatriated or were on their way home.
“The DFA is in the process of notifying the kin of the six confirmed dead and coordinating the shipment of their remains and we are also locating the whereabouts of the four unaccounted for,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez, however, could not clearly state the circumstances of how the six Filipinos died but said that “it was the direct result of the h
When pressed by reporters whether the deaths of the Filipinos were caused by the execution from the Islamists or the result of the military action, Hernandez said that they did not have specific information but “the information is they died in the facility.”
He said he could not also give the specific number but most of the Filipino workers were employed by the Japanese engineering firm JGC Corporation.
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