19 OFWs rescued, 1 missing in HK fire

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Thursday confirmed that 19 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were affected by the massive fire that swept through public housing apartments in Hong Kong’s Tai Po District.

At a press briefing in Makati City, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Administrator Patricia Yvonne Caunan said all 19 OFWs were safely rescued and the Philippine government remains in close coordination with them.

Of the 19, Caunan said one worker — whose online plea for help had gone viral — was rescued and is currently confined in a hospital along with her employer and the employer’s child.

“The one who is in the hospital now just recently arrived in Hong Kong. We are going to visit the family,” she said.

Caunan added that several OFWs expressed concern over their passports and employment contracts that were destroyed in the fire.

In an interview on Daily Tribune’s digital program Usapang OFW, Philippine Consul General in Hong Kong Romulo Victor Israel Jr. said one Filipino remains missing along with the five-year-old child she was caring for, as reported by her employer.

Caunan said the consulate, along with a DMW-OWWA team, is in Tai Po to visit the seven shelters set up by the Hong Kong government to check if any OFWs had sought assistance.

So far, Israel noted, no Filipinos have taken refuge in the shelters.

There are about 230,000 Filipinos in Hong Kong, of whom 205,000 are domestic workers. The rest are permanent residents, professionals, and students.

Around 6,000 families live in the Tai Po district, many of whom employ Filipino domestic workers.

As of Thursday, Hong Kong news outlets reported that the fire’s death toll had risen to 55, with about 300 people still missing.