Pinoy worker burned in Gulf oil platform fire dies

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Philippine ambassador says one of the men critically burned in an offshore fire has died in a Baton Rouge hospital.

The ambassador says in a news release that 49-year-old Avelino Tajonera died Friday, shortly after his wife and three children arrived from Manila.

Three other men remain hospitalized. The ambassador says their families are in Baton Rouge.

The explosion and fire Nov. 16 killed 42-year-old Ellroy Corporal. The search for 28-year-old Jerome Malagapo was called off this week.

The embassy quotes Consul General Herrera-Lim as saying three Filipino workers who survived the fire are back in Manila after giving statements to federal authorities investigating the fire. The consul said Corporal's body will be returned to the Philippines on Tuesday.