Hurt OFWs from Taiwan quake now discharged

The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Wednesday said all 15 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who sustained injuries during the magnitude 7.4 that hit Taiwan on 3 April are now discharged from hospital.

“They are recuperating in their respective company dormitories and accommodations. Follow-up consultations and check-ups have been scheduled as well,” DMW said.

The agency said the Migrant Workers Office in Taipei is monitoring their conditions closely in coordination with their companies as well as medical authorities.

The DMW, through its Migrant Workers Offices in Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Taichung, said it is working closely with the Manila Economic and Cultural Office led by Chairperson Silvestre H. Bello III in monitoring the situation of and helping OFWs in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Meanwhile, the six-member augmentation deployed Monday has been meeting with various Filipino communities and workers’ groups assuring them of the government’s full support.

The team is tasked with providing psychosocial support for OFWs in need of the said service.

They have also been distributing financial assistance amounting to P30,000 each for OFWs who suffered injuries resulting from the earthquake as well as food packs and other needed items to OFWs during their engagements with Filipino groups.

In a related development, an OFW was among those injured in a fire that hit a 16-story residential building in Hong Kong early Wednesday morning.

In an advisory, the DMW said he was taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital where he received treatment for minor injuries sustained on his right hand from splinters as he broke through a glass door to avoid suffocating from smoke inhalation.

The DMW said Migrant Workers Office Hong Kong representatives were able to visit the injured Filipino in his hospital room and ascertained his condition as stable.