All 11 missing seafarers in Beirut now safe; 24 Pinoys injured in blast

All eleven missing Filipino seafarers in Beirut have been found safe after a massive blast rocked the Lebanese capital, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced Wednesday night.

According to GMA News’ JP Soriano, the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers' Affairs received a report from the Philippine Embassy in Beirut stating that all the missing seafarers had been accounted for. 

JUST IN: (Update as of 11PM) The DFA, OUMWA received information from its Philippine Embassy in Beirut that all of the 11 missing seafarers initially reported have been found safe & accounted for; Number of Filipinos injured are now at 24. | via @jpsoriano pic.twitter.com/DVzDKHWKic

— GMA News Breaking (@gmanewsbreaking) August 5, 2020

The DFA earlier said that the seafarers suffered minor injuries but had since been transferred to the custody of their employer, Abu Merhi Cruises. 

Meanwhile, the number of Filipinos injured in the explosion has climbed to 24.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Dodo Dulay, posted on Twitter early Wednesday morning that the Philippine Embassy in Beirut has the latest tally of affected OFWs.

There were 24 injured, who are mostly Household Service Workers with 2 fatalities and one missing.

Except for 1 critical who is in critical condition, all the injured individuals are in stable condition or minor wounds. The search for missing OFWs, meanwhile, is ongoing.

Earlier on Wednesday, the DFA reported that two Filipinos were confirmed to have died in the blast while eight others were wounded. 

The government has vowed to repatriate the victims’ remains once the identity of the second Filipino has been confirmed. 

At least 78 people were killed while some 4,000 others were injured in Beirut after an explosion occurred in port warehouses storing highly explosive material. —Julia Mari Ornedo/LDF/BAP, GMA News