A Filipino community leader on Wednesday said that at least three Filipinos were reported as missing after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, which has reportedly killed more than 8,000 individuals, and is reportedly expected to increase.
“Unfortunately may tatlong Pilipinang missing doon sa Hatay, isa sa mga 11 provinces na affected ng 2 lindol na naganap dito sa amin. Unfortunately kasama doon sa 3 Pilipina, meron ding tatlong bata,” Weng Timoteo, vice president of the Filipino Community in Turkey said in a television interview.
According to Timoteo, they are still hoping that they are alive
“Yung Pilipinang kausap ko ngayon lang, sinabi niya na gumuho talaga yung bahay nung kaibigan niya doon na may 3 anak,” she said.
“Tapos meron pang 2 Pilipina na this morning pa namin hinahanap kasi apparently, yung isa a mga Pilipina na yun, sinabi nung amo na namatay na raw. Pero hindi pa namin naco-confirm,” she added.
“Until 3 hours ago I connected to the close friend of that so called patay na Pilipina na, and she believed na hindi pa raw patay ang kaibigan niya. So she started to cry nung kinakausap ko siya sa phone and I told her importante kako siya ligtas siya, nakaalis na siya doon sa affected place, ngayon nakalipat na sila nung amo niya sa Antalya,” she said.
Timoteo admitted that communication is a difficult problem in particular to the most affected areas of Turkey.
“Like itong close friend nitong sinasabing patay na na Pilipina, antagal ko siyang cino-contact, like I think 20, 30 times ko siyang cinocontact kanina, I managed to talk to her once, nagkausap lang kami ng 2,3 minutes, because I really wanted to check with her kung talaga ngang patay na yung kababayan namin. So naputol,” she lamented.
CurrentPH News Service
