OWWA: Repatriation of OFWs killed in Kuwait fire already 'in the process'

The process for the repatriation of the remains of the three overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who were killed in the tragic fire in a building in Kuwait has already started, the government said Friday. 

During the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) administrator Arnel Ignacio said the Philippine government has been fast in addressing the needs of the Filipinos affected by the incident.

''Ang maaasahan nila, wala naman po tayong natitipid pagdating sa pagtulong sa ating mga kababayan na ganito ang mga nagiging sitwasyon. We are very very quick on the needs of our OFWs,'' Ignacio said. 

(It is guaranteed that the government will not scrimp in providing help to our fellowmen in this kind of situation. We are very very quick on the needs of our OFWs.)

''Ang repatriation nito ng remains ay in the process na po (The repatriation of the remains is already in process),'' he added. 

The three Filipinos died from smoke inhalation, Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac earlier said.

The victims were part of a group of 11 OFWs who were all working for the same Kuwaiti construction company housed in the building that caught fire.

The department said two other OFWs remain in critical condition in a hospital, while the remaining six are "safe and unharmed."

The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing, but Kuwait's deputy prime minister, Sheikh Fahad Yusuf Saud Al-Sabah, said real estate owners committed violations.

According to Kuwait authorities, the fire started at about 4:30 a.m. on June 12 in the building serving as a housing and dormitory facility for foreign workers employed by the Kuwaiti construction company. 

The building is in al-Mangaf, a coastal city south of Kuwait City.

Kuwaiti authorities earlier said three people had been detained for suspected manslaughter over the fire incident.

At least 49 people were killed in the fire, while scores were injured, the Kuwait Interior Ministry earlier reported. 

Many of the dead and injured suffocated from smoke inhalation after being trapped in the building by the blaze, according to an Agence France-Presse's source in the fire department. —KBK, GMA Integrated News