Grieving relatives receive drydock bodies

Grieving relatives yesterday received the bodies of 10 out of 16 Filipinos who perished a week ago in an accident at the Dubai Drydocks. "I waited more than a year for my husband to return from work. I never thought he would come home this way," said one wife who was left with three children to care for after the loss of her husband. The bodies were flown to Manila by an Emirates flight from Dubai yesterday evening.

Apart from the families, officials of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) were at the airport. On the arrival of the bodies, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo expressed her condolences to the families of the 16 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Apart from the 16 fatalities who were among the 29 Asians who perished in the mishap, several Filipinos who were injured in the accident remained at a hospital in Dubai, while two are still unaccounted for. Arroyo said in a statement that the fatalities and those who remain unaccounted for are "heroes".

"On behalf of the Philippine government and the Arroyo family, please accept my heartfelt condolences over the deaths of your loved ones caused by the uncontrolled flooding of a dry-dock in Dubai on March 27. I know I can never approximate the depths of your sorrow or suffering.... In life and in death, they were truly heroes," she said.

She noted the fatalities and those who remain missing should "find comfort in the thought that both our government and our people are grateful not only for their contribution to the economy but also for being fine role models of what the Great Filipino Worker is capable of doing, in pursuit of a life of dignity and worth"

Those who died in the accident were Marcelino T. Sumagang; Joseph J. F. Cayaban; Florante Mercado; Rolando M. Romero; Jose R. Santos; Fernando Velasco; Arturo R. Rodriguez; Jose Consunji Lizo Jr.; Jim S. Lucero; Vittorio C. Gustilo; Henry L. Sumanga; Cecilio G. Silang; Ernando R. Canlas; Henry S. Sanchez; Sofio A. Bosero; and Arthur F. Pullido.