Pinoy survivors in 'Costa Concordia' tragedy due home before noon

The first two batches of Filipinos who survived the tragedy involving the luxury liner Costa Concordia off Italy last week are due to arrive home before noon Thursday.

 

About 100 Filipino crewmembers are due to arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport aboard two flights, radio dzBB's Sam Nielsen reported.

 

Officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the crewmembers' manning company are to welcome them at the airport, the report said.

 

The first batch is scheduled to arrive aboard a Cathay Pacific CX-907 flight at 10 a.m. The second batch is to arrive aboard Thai Airways Flight 620 at 11:55 a.m.

 

Upon their arrival, the survivors are expected to reunite with relatives and narrate their ordeal, the report added.

 

Earlier, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the employers of the Filipino seafarers provided repatriation assistance, including cash advances for their trip home.

 

"Other compensation includes payment for loss of personal belongings in the amount provided in the contract, including payment of Injury/sick wages if any seafarer suffers injury as a result of the incident," she added in a news release on the Official Gazette website.

 

The 296 Filipinos had worked aboard the ill-fated Italian Costa Concordia, which ran aground Friday off Giglio Island in Italy. 

 

Baldoz earlier said the seafarer crew of Costa Concordia have all been evacuated from Giglio and were transferred to the town of Grosetto in the province of Tuscany.

 

The Philippine Embassy in Rome then provided the Filipino crew with travel documents, as all their personal documents have been left on board and are beyond recovery, she added. 

 

At least 11 people died in the tragedy.  The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, is awaiting trial for charges of multiple homicide and abandoning ship while the passengers were still on board. He was released from prison but is now under house arrest. –KG, GMA News