The bodies of two of the three Filipinos reported missing after a bridge collapsed in Yilan County, Taiwan have been found, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office said Wednesday
“Two bodies have been recovered. The first one was retrieved at midnight on Tuesday. The other body was found at 4 am this morning,” MECO chairman Lito Banayo said, in an interview with GMA News TV, beamed nationwide.
“The two bodies have already been identified. Search is on for the third one,” Banayo said.
The Department of Labor, in a statement, extended its sympathies to the families of Andree Abregana Serencio and Gorge Jagmis Impang, both confirmed dead.
Romulo Ilustrisimo Escalicas Jr. remains missing.
Five other Filipino workers were injured and were brought to the hospital for immediate treatment and medical attention. They are Julio S. Gimawa, Jason N. Villaruel, Allan H. Alcansano, John Vicente Royo and June B. Flores.
Officials at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office visited the victims at the hospital and provided their immediate needs and personal requirements.
The Philippine labor office in Taiwan is also facilitating the repatriation of the remains of Serencio and Impang.
On instructions of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, all possible assistance will be extended to the family of those killed in the incident. Death and other benefits will also be provided.
Scholarship benefits will be extended to the victims’ children.
POLO Taiwan is on top of the situation and providing necessary and extended assistance to the affected workers and their families to recover from the unfortunate incident, DOLE said in its statement.
Taiwanese authorities said the collapse of the bridge, which carries traffic over the busy fishing port, damaged three fishing boats and two vehicles, including the tanker.
It is not yet clear what caused the collapse.
Dramatic CCTV footage captured the moment the 140-meter long single-arch bridge came crashing down in Nanfangao, on Taiwan’s east coast early on Tuesday morning.
In the video, a vertical cable at the center of the bridge’s steel arch suddenly snaps.
The road then collapses into the water, crashing down on three fishing boats as a petrol tanker which nearly made it across also plunged into the water.
Fourteen people were injured, including six Filipino and three Indonesian fishing workers, the Taiwanese driver of the petrol tanker, and two coastguard personnel.
The petrol tanker burst into flames at some point after it hit the water, sending a thick plume of black smoke into the air.
Prosecutors have launched a probe into the cause of the collapse.
The local landmark was completed in 1998 and spanned a small fishing port. It was featured in a number of TV dramas and commercials.
Taiwan was skirted by a typhoon on Monday night, which brought heavy rains and strong winds to parts of the east coast.
But at the time of the bridge collapse, the weather was fine.
Taiwan has a huge fishing industry and many of those who work on its boats are low-paid migrant workers from countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Previous serious bridge incidents in Taiwan have mostly been related to typhoons.
In 2009, two bridges were badly damaged by Typhoon ‘‘Morakot,’’ which left more than 400 people dead. With AFP