MANILA — Two Filipino workers died after a bridge collapsed in Taiwan on Tuesday, October 1, 2019, that crushed the fishing vessel they were onboard.
Five other Filipinos were injured in the incident while another remains missing.
The fatalities were identified as Andree Abregana Serencio and Gorge Jagmis Impang. Another worker, Romulo Ilustrisimo Escalicas Jr. remains missing.
Five other Filipinos identified as Julio S. Gimawa, Jason N. Villaruel, Allan H. Alcansano, John Vicente Royo and June B. Flores were brought to the hospital for immediate treatment and medical attention for various injuries.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III in a statement, assured that full assistance will be extended to the families of the two workers.
“All possible assistance will be extended to the family of those killed in the incident. Death and other benefits will also be provided,” Bello said.
“Scholarship benefits will be extended to the victims’ children,” he added.
The Philippine Overseas Labor Office (Polo) in Taiwan is also facilitating the repatriation of the remains of Serencio and Impang.
“Officials at the Polo visited the victims at the hospital and provided their immediate needs and personal requirements,” the Dole’s statement said.
“Polo Taiwan is on top of the situation and providing necessary and extended assistance to the affected workers and their families to recover from the unfortunate incident,” the statement added.
The search and retrieval operation on the collapsed bridge in Nanfangao, located in the island-nation’s Yilan County, is still ongoing. (with reports from PNA)
