21 Pinoy sailors survive oil tanker blast in Nigeria

Twenty-one Filipino seamen survived in an oil tanker explosion in Port Harcourt, Nigeria on Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday.

Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr said all the Filipino sailors are safe and are being prepared for their repatriation to Manila.

Claro Cristobal, DFA spokesman, said Philippine Ambassador Masaranga Umpa has reported that the 21 Filipino, who are crew members of MT Golden Lucy that caught fire between 6 am and 7 am last Friday, are all safe and currently billeted in a local hotel.

A consular team from the Philippine embassy in Abuja had been sent to Port Harcourt to take care of the needs of the crewmen.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Cristobal said.

The explosion occurred in the same area where electrician Vito Cruz died and 18 other Filipino crewmen survived the explosion of MT Keno on Dec. 19. The remains of Cruz were repatriated on Saturday while the 18 survivors arrived in Manila in two batches on Jan. 5 and 6.

Conejos said the DFA and the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration have been discussing how to completely stop Filipinos from going to Nigeria as well as to Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan in view of the total deployment ban imposed in those countries. - GMANews.TV

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