2 OFWs discharged after Saudi crash

MANILA, Philippines - Two of 13 Filipino workers injured in a vehicular accident in Saudi Arabia have been discharged from hospital, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) reported yesterday.

OWWA chief Rebecca Calzado said 11 of the injured overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are still undergoing treatment at the hospital.

“We are making sure that those who are still in the hospital will get the appropriate treatment,” Calzado said.

Calzado said OWWA would work for the immediate repatriation of the bodies of the 13 OFWs killed in the accident.

“Police investigation is still ongoing, but OWWA will extend the necessary assistance for the immediate repatriation of the bodies,” she said.

The Philippine embassy in Riyadh confirmed that 13 Filipinos – not 14 as earlier reported – died in the crash.

At this time, Calzado said OWWA is still waiting for the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to provide the list of names of the dead and injured.

“As soon as we get the names, we will meet with their families and help them in complying with the requirements so that the bodies of the OFWs can be repatriated at the soonest possible time,” Calzado added.

The Filipinos were on a company van on their way to their living quarters when their vehicle collided with a delivery truck.

The employer of the victims, Saudi Arabia Kentz, said it will shoulder the repatriation cost of the bodies to the Philippines.

The employer also said it has informed the families of nine of the 13 fatalities.

Calzado said all the OFWs involved in the accident are documented and will get the necessary assistance from OWWA.

Aside from the company and insurance benefits, the families of the OFWs will receive P220,000 death and burial benefits from OWWA, Calzado said.

She said a child of each OFW killed can also avail of scholarship and livelihood grants from OWWA.

OWWA will also extend disability benefits to those injured, depending on the extent of the injuries they sustained.

Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called on the DFA and the OWWA to provide immediate assistance to the families of the OFWs killed in the accident in Saudi Arabia.

The OFW group Migrante said the Philippine embassy in Saudi Arabia should identify the Filipino fatalities in the accident.

“Identify the fatalities and immediately inform their families in the Philippines and provide the needed assistance without dilly-dallying,” Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator John Leonard Monterona said. – With Christina Mendez, Jose Rodel Clapano, Pia Lee-Brago