DMW: 2 Filipinos hospitalized due to UAE floods

Two Filipinos who got into vehicular accidents amid the flooding in the United Arab Emirates were hospitalized and are now recuperating, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said Sunday.

DMW officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac said the two Filipinos were in the intensive care unit (ICU) for a while, but are now “on the road to recovery.”

“Mga vehicular accidents ang kanilang kinasapitan. Nadalaw na rin sila at likewise have been assured na ang tulong at suporta ng pamahalaan ay bibigay sa kanila, sang-ayon na rin sa direktiba ng ating Pangulo,” Cacdac said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

(They got into vehicular accidents. They have already been visited and likewise been assured that the help and support of the government will be given to them, in accordance with the directive of our President.)

Three overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were unfortunately killed in the UAE flooding. Two of them died due to suffocation inside their vehicle during the flood, while the other one died due to a vehicular accident.

Cacdac said arrangements are being made for the repatriation of their bodies. He is hoping the remains will arrive in the Philippines before the month ends.

“Wala pang nakatakdang araw. But UAE ito. Sa karanasan natin sa UAE, mabilis silang mag-proseso ng dokumento… Sa DMW side, ‘yung labor counterpart natin doon ay madaling lapitan… Mahirap lang magtakda ng petsa, pero itong buwan na ito, malamang sa malamang ay makakauwi ‘yung tatlo,” he added.

(There is no set date yet. But this is the UAE, they process documents quickly. On the side of DMW, our labor counterpart there is easy to approach. It's just difficult to set a date, but most likely, the three bodies can be repatriated this month.)

The DMW chief also said that the floods in UAE are now subsiding, with the daily lives of the people there slowly getting back to normal.

The rains were the heaviest experienced by the UAE in the 75 years that records have been kept. They brought much of the country to a standstill and caused significant damage.

Experts said that the sudden weather may have been caused by climate change. The flood may have been partly caused by the lack of drainage infrastructure in the country.

Around 650,000 Filipinos are in Dubai, but none have requested to be repatriated so far, following the floods. —KG, GMA Integrated News