The Philippine Embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday said it was still trying to reach out to Japan Airlines to check if there are Filipinos onboard its aircraft that caught fire on Tuesday.
Philippine Ambassador to Japan Mylene Garcia-Albano said her office has “not been able to get that information despite persistent efforts to reach out to Japan Airlines and Haneda Airport Police.”
“We’ve actually been able to contact them since 7 o’clock yesterday until 11 o’clock, and the information that they gave us was they are not able to give out that information because of privacy issues,” Albano said, in an interview with CNN Philippines.
But Albano said that the embassy remains persistent in reaching out to relevant parties as there might be Filipinos onboard whose travel documents might have been burned and need a new one.
Nonetheless, the Philippine embassy has already posted an advisory saying that Filipinos onboard flight 516 who need assistance may contact the Assistance-to-Nationals Unit at (+81) 80-4928-7979.
A total of 379 passengers of Japan Airlines flight number 516 from Hokkaido to Tokyo managed to flee from their burning aircraft upon landing after it collided with another plane and burst into flames.
Meanwhile, five were killed on the other plane that was actually being operated by the Japan Coast Guard to bring earthquake relief goods.