Filipinos safe from Libya flood, Morocco quake — DFA
Filipinos in Libya and Morocco remain safe in the two African nations after separate calamities struck there that left tens of thousands of people dead.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Eduardo Jose de Vega said that as of Friday, Sep. 15, there is no Filipino casualty from the massive flooding that occurred in eastern Libyan city of Derna and the earthquake that hit the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.
The overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Libya, mostly medical workers, are safe as they were already moved to a higher ground by the management of the hospital they are working.
"There’s only about 90 Filipinos there, mga nurses…in fact, nagtatrabaho pa rin kasi nasa high grounds sila at kasama sila sa relief efforts (They are nurses, who are in fact, still working because they are on high grounds and are part of those conducting relief efforts)," de Vega said.
As communication lines were cut by the flooding, the families of OFWs who still cannot contact their relatives in Libya were advised to reach out to DFA through its Facebook page.
Meanwhile, around 20 Filipinos in Marrakesh who previously sought help from the government are also safe.
It turned out, de Vega said, the distressed Filipinos were afraid of returning to their homes yet from the evacuation site due to aftershock.
"So binigyan sila ng food supplies 'no. So, ang maganda diyan, zero casualties (So they were given food supplies. What's good news is that there's no casualty) [on Philippine side]," he said.
At least 11,000 people were believed to have died from the flooding in Libya; while 2,900 from the quake in Morocco.