At least 14 Filipinos died in a fire that struck a hotel in Iraq Friday evening, February 5, the charge d’affaires of the Philippine embassy there said early Saturday, Feb. 6. Charge d’affaires Elmer Cato said in a Facebook post the 14 Filipinos were among some 17 fatalities in the fire in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. “The incident is now under investigation. We would like to extend our deepest sympathy to the families of the victims and will do everything we can to bring them home as soon as possible,” Cato said. He added they are taking the earliest possible flight there to coordinate with the Kurdistan regional government in identifying and repatriating the remains of the fatalities. But a separate radio report early Saturday said there may have been at least 15 Filipinos killed in the fire that hit the four-star Capitol Hotel. It cited information quoting Saman Barzanji, director general of the Arbil health department, as saying the death toll had risen to as high as 21. The report said the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs is now determining if the Filipino fatalities were overseas Filipino workers or tourists. http://newscentral.ph/breaking-news/at-least-14-filipinos-dead-in-iraq-hotel-fire/
"the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs is now determining if the Filipino fatalities were overseas Filipino workers or tourists." hotel workers, surely. Not tourists. In fact why were 15 of the 20-odd casualties Filipino. Maybe they locked them up in a small room between shifts or something and forgot about them when the fire took hold. not sure what the situation is legally with Filipino OFW's and Iraq. They were forbidden from going for years after 2003, then the ban was briefly lifted before ISIS made their big appearance, then they got banned again.
