No Pinoy casualty in Nigeria fuel blast - DFA
Countries with existing OFW Deployment Ban
The Department of Foreign Affairs has ordered the stoppage of sending overseas Filipino workers to the following countries due to hostilities and conflicts:
*Afghanistan
A total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers in Afghanistan took effect only in 2007.
*Iraq
OFWs were prohibited from going to Iraq in 2004 after a series of suicide bomb attacks and abduction of foreigners followed the US-led war.
*Jordan
Reports of widespread abuse to Filipino workers prompted the government to ban deployment here on Jan 2008.
*Lebanon
Following the Israel-Lebanon conflict, Filipino workers were not allowed to enter this conflict-ridden country on June 2007.
*Nigeria
Deployment ban in this country was implemented on Dec. 2007.
Several OFWs have protested the imposition of the deployment ban on these countries. Reports claim that some workers resort to illegal papers to enter these conflict areas.
- GMANews.TVMANILA, Philippines - There were no Filipino casualties in the fuel pipeline blast in Nigeria's main city, Lagos, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.
DFA spokesperson Claro Cristobal told GMANews.TV in a text message that Philippine Ambassador to Nigeria Masaranga Umpa reported no Filipino injured or dead in the blast last May 15 which killed 100 people.
The road construction equipment was working in Ijegun village on the distant outskirts of Lagos when it pierced the pipe and fuel began spewing into the surrounding neighborhood on Thursday, Red Cross disaster coordinator Suleman Maikubi said.
Moments later, an explosion billowed oily plumes of flame and soot high into the air, witnesses said.
Pupils in crowded secondary school rushed from their classrooms in panic as blazing fuel flowed toward the compound. Children were squeezed against the schoolyard walls during the stampede out the exit gate and some of the youngsters were killed, villagers said.
"Many children have died. In fact you cannot even count them. Some of them were choked by the smoke, others crushed by the concrete fence of the school while some were suffocated in an attempt to rush out," said one witness, Aderemi Salau.
"At least, I helped to carry 10 dead bodies," the man added, bursting into tears.
Dozens of child-size sandals lay scattered in the sandy courtyard.
Maikubi said it was still unclear how many children were among the roughly 100 people killed. Around 20 people were injured and taken to a hospital, he said.
Hundreds of onlookers gaped at the fire, which could be seen from miles away, as firefighters sent water jetting into the conflagration.
Pipeline fires are common in Nigeria. More than 400 people died in two similar pipeline explosions in Lagos in 2006 and at least 40 died in December.
Authorities frequently blame the disasters on criminal gangs that tap into pipelines to siphon fuel for sale. After the gangs move on, people crowd in to scavenge for fuel and a spark can set leaked fuel ablaze. -with reports from AP, Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV
The Department of Foreign Affairs has ordered the stoppage of sending overseas Filipino workers to the following countries due to hostilities and conflicts:
*Afghanistan
A total ban on the deployment of Filipino workers in Afghanistan took effect only in 2007.
*Iraq
OFWs were prohibited from going to Iraq in 2004 after a series of suicide bomb attacks and abduction of foreigners followed the US-led war.
*Jordan
Reports of widespread abuse to Filipino workers prompted the government to ban deployment here on Jan 2008.
*Lebanon
Following the Israel-Lebanon conflict, Filipino workers were not allowed to enter this conflict-ridden country on June 2007.
*Nigeria
Deployment ban in this country was implemented on Dec. 2007.
Several OFWs have protested the imposition of the deployment ban on these countries. Reports claim that some workers resort to illegal papers to enter these conflict areas.
- GMANews.TVMANILA, Philippines - There were no Filipino casualties in the fuel pipeline blast in Nigeria's main city, Lagos, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.
DFA spokesperson Claro Cristobal told GMANews.TV in a text message that Philippine Ambassador to Nigeria Masaranga Umpa reported no Filipino injured or dead in the blast last May 15 which killed 100 people.
The road construction equipment was working in Ijegun village on the distant outskirts of Lagos when it pierced the pipe and fuel began spewing into the surrounding neighborhood on Thursday, Red Cross disaster coordinator Suleman Maikubi said.
Moments later, an explosion billowed oily plumes of flame and soot high into the air, witnesses said.
Pupils in crowded secondary school rushed from their classrooms in panic as blazing fuel flowed toward the compound. Children were squeezed against the schoolyard walls during the stampede out the exit gate and some of the youngsters were killed, villagers said.
"Many children have died. In fact you cannot even count them. Some of them were choked by the smoke, others crushed by the concrete fence of the school while some were suffocated in an attempt to rush out," said one witness, Aderemi Salau.
"At least, I helped to carry 10 dead bodies," the man added, bursting into tears.
Dozens of child-size sandals lay scattered in the sandy courtyard.
Maikubi said it was still unclear how many children were among the roughly 100 people killed. Around 20 people were injured and taken to a hospital, he said.
Hundreds of onlookers gaped at the fire, which could be seen from miles away, as firefighters sent water jetting into the conflagration.
Pipeline fires are common in Nigeria. More than 400 people died in two similar pipeline explosions in Lagos in 2006 and at least 40 died in December.
Authorities frequently blame the disasters on criminal gangs that tap into pipelines to siphon fuel for sale. After the gangs move on, people crowd in to scavenge for fuel and a spark can set leaked fuel ablaze. -with reports from AP, Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV
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