Pinoy among 22 dead in tanker blast in Riyadh

At least one Filipino was killed while ten others were hospitalized in a fuel truck explosion that killed at least 22 people in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Thursday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

In an update posted on his Twitter account, DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez indicated three more Filipinos were injured but have been discharged.

"One Filipino was killed in the Riyadh fuel truck explosion, nine (are) in hospitals, three (have been) discharged," he said.

In Riyadh, Vice Consul Redentor Genotiva said there is a tenth injured Filipino also being given medical attention.

The gas tanker truck exploded on a main road in the Saudi capital on Thursday, killing at least 22 people, including one unnamed Filipino. The explosion also injured about 111 others—eleven of them Filipinos—and left a trail of destruction, officials said.

The lorry veered into a bridge pylon at a junction on Khurays Road in Riyadh at about 7:30 a.m., causing a gas leak that spread out and then burst into flames, destroying nearby cars and a business, the officials told AFP.

An injured man after an explosion in eastern Riyadh on November 1. At least 10 people were killed when a fuel truck crashed into a flyover in the Saudi capital Riyadh, triggering the blast that caused the collapse of an industrial building. Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera television stations reported that aside from the fatalities, at least 50 people were injured.

Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ezzedin Tago, in an interview on GMA News' "State of the Nation," cited initial reports indicating the deceased was brought to a morgue but was not immediately identifiable. He added they are coordinating with the deceased's kin.

He also expressed condolences with the family of the deceased, and assured the families of the injured the embassy is coordinating with Saudi authorities.

In a radio interview Friday, Vice Consul Genotiva said they will coordinate with the victim's employer for the repatriation.

"Makikipag-ugnayan tayo sa employer para mapadali ang pag-uwi ng labi sa Pilipinas," he said in an interview on dzBB radio.

He said the fatality was identified by a brother-in-law.

While he withheld the name of the fatality for the moment, he described the fatality and the brother-in-law as workers for a tractor company.

Genotiva also said their latest figures indicated 10 Filipinos, nine of them employees of the tractor company, were injured in the incident.

The injured were being treated in four hospitals in the Kingdom, he added.

Genotiva also said the Embassy will coordinate with the victims' employer to make sure the injured receive medical attention.

"Sila naman ay legal worker ng kumpanya. Under Saudi law sila ay required bigyan ng insurance ng employers," he said.

He said the Embassy will talk with the injured workers and ask them if they want to continue working in the Kingdom or be repatriated.

"Pag-uusapan natin batay sa decision ng worker kung gusto manatili o umuwi," he said.

An AFP photographer at the scene of the explosion reported widespread damage to the area, with dozens of cars mangled by the blast and burned out.

A bus that had been gutted by the fire stood idle on the flyover, with witnesses saying that the vehicle had been transporting workers whose fate remained unknown.

Another truck fell off the bridge due to the impact of the explosion, the witnesses said.

Amateur video footage posted on the Internet showed thick black smoke billowing from different spots around the flyover whose pylons were also damaged.

Civil defense personnel carried two "completely charred" bodies from the site.

"The death toll of the gas truck fire in Khurays has increased to 22 people, in addition to 111 wounded," a civil defense official said.

Earlier, a civil defense official who requested not to be named told AFP that at least 14 people were killed and around 60 others hurt "in the explosion of the truck when it hit a bridge pylon."

Civil defense spokesman in Riyadh, Mohammed al-Hammadi, said the explosion took place after gas leaked from the tank of the lorry, according to SPA state news agency.

"The explosion and fire happened after leaked gas filled the area. Huge damage happened, in addition to many traffic collisions," he said, adding there were fatalities without specifying how many.

Hammadi said a nearby show yard of construction machinery was severely damaged by the explosion.

Friday 2 November 2012

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